Spoiler! Covers for BTVS S10 Issue #14

[Lyri]

 

[Skanky Vamp]

the top is really cool

 

[American Aurora]

Wow - the April Solicitation has a beautiful cover - love the fluffy clouds filling in for the bleached hair. The pretty landscape tucked away inside the hard granite exterior of Spike sure seems like a spoiler for a big reveal for his character.

I assume this mindwalk is connected to the supernatural crimes that Spike is investigating and Buffy isn’t going to like blurb for Issue #13. The idea of Buffy journeying through Spike’s mind is in line with previous episodes of Buffy and Angel with characters wandering through the past memories of others.

Why is Buffy wandering through Spike’s private thoughts – is he incapacitated or suffering from amnesia? He might have had part of his memory tampered with or he could have gone feral or fallen into a coma. I agree with many on the various boards that Spike could lose his soul. Or he could ask Buffy to wander around in there because he's in pain or afraid of an inability to control his own actions like the old trigger from Season Seven. Or he could be suffering from nightmares about the crimes like Angel in his comic. It'll be interesting to see if it's related to the villain or the new magic.

If Spike takes a chomp out of the Sculptor in an earlier issue, I’ll also assume his former chow-downs of the Soul Glutton and the Siren were not a coincidence and spell danger for him.

And where is the relationship of Buffy and Spike at this moment? Good or bad? Together or not? Does she know about Dylan or does she find out here? Are they in a strange place after the Love Dares You arc and does this complicate things?

I don't know if the mindwalk is connected solely to the crimes or something bigger. Could Spike be someone other than who we think he is? Could there be something shocking in his past? Is he hiding any major secrets – or are there things about himself that even he doesn’t know? How much has Spike ever told Buffy about the poetry-loving, girlfriend-less William or his dying mother? Is there something about the Fanged Four/Whirlwind that she doesn’t know? Or maybe it's Cecily/Halfrek?

And who or what could this thing be that Buffy is looking for in Spike’s past and present that Spike has a deep connection with?

Angel (Angelus), Darla and Drusilla as members of the Fanged Four/Whirlwind and the Order of Aurelius; Spike’s parents – his dying mother and unknown father – could be the son of a slayer, son of a watcher, son of a demon, son of a demon hunter, not really their son at all; Cecily/Halfrek, D’Hoffryn and Lloyd the Demon and Ghost Anya; Ilyria/Lindsay/Theo Daniels/Wolfram and Hart/the Amulet; Joyce/Dawn/the Key; The two slayers that Spike murdered; Dylan; and Buffy herself in past interactions with Spike.

If Dylan is connected to this, she would also be likely connected to one or more of the above.

I imagine no matter what Buffy finds that she will also realize that Spike is a far more complicated character than she ever imagined. It’s also possible that she’ll have to relive some very distressing memories of her own interactions with Spike – a real potential for growth. Or the mindwalk could actually damage Spike's relationship with her and the others if she finds something terrible during her journey.

 

[EVIL UU]

Why is Buffy wandering through Spike’s private thoughts – is he incapacitated or suffering from amnesia?

I wonder how will the writers justify it. Why Buffy? This is strictly Willow's territory. She's done this before ( at least twice with Buffy ) she knows how to do it and she knows how to do it safely. OK, Buffy can cast a spell too, sure, but from "The Weight of the World" we know that those things can get dangerous and for the both parties involved so why not send an expert? It's just unnecessary risk.

 

[thetopher]

Maybe something similar to the 'Orpheus' drug that Faith used on Angelus? I doubt Spike bit Buffy though- but that type of magic does exist in one form or another.

I hope this isn't another 'Spike is being controlled/has been doing things that he has no memory of' situation, otherwise he'll be turning into the Manchurian Candidate of the Buffyverse (beating Angel out of the top slot!).
I am kinda interested to see if the writers can come up with anything interesting to say about his past. Maybe we'll even see fun, evil Spike again! 😉

 

[gite63]

Preview here.

It seems Spike will be in the dog house...😀 

I wonder how will the writers justify it. Why Buffy?

Private thoughts...

 

[NothingVentured]

I don't think the Harmony thing will be played as more than a joke.

The shot of him with the book is interesting.

 

[Silverspike]

Well thank god the old artist is back. 😀

 

[EVIL UU]

Oh, so that's why Dylan's in town :]

 

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

Preview here.

It seems Spike will be in the dog house...😀 


Private thoughts...

I love that Buffy agrees that she loves Spike. I don't know at this point how anyone can deny that.

 

[gite63]

I love that Buffy agrees that she loves Spike. I don't know at this point how anyone can deny that.

Bangels will certainly want to kill me for this, but... whatever. And I'm writing something based on a panel from an issue that hasn't been published yet - and all can end in tears and disappointment, as it happens quite frequently in the Buffyverse, I'm aware of that - but let me write away.


There's fear, and lust... doubt about himself, that he doesn't deserved it... an instinct to run... that getting hurt now is better than later... Sometimes, I annoy the hell out of him. Sometimes, he thinks he'd be better off with someone else. Or no one. All the things I feel sometimes, too, and would never say.

So, Buffy feels the same feelings Spike does – and he truly loves her, it isn't a storybook pure love:

There's fear, and lust... doubt about myself, that I don't deserved it... an instinct to run... that getting hurt now is better than later... Sometimes, he annoys the hell out of me. Sometimes, I think I'd be better off with someone else. Or no one.

So, would she – or anyone, for that matter – feels all this for a person she doesn't care? Doesn't Love? I don't think so.

Buffy also said to Andrew that she also might be guilty of not seeing what's right in front of her. (BtVS #13)

Is she discovering that Spike loves her? Doesn't she know that for ages? Even after the soul, he already reaffirmed his love for her to her... So, what is Buffy really saying? What is Buffy figuring out?

What's happening here is that Buffy is... recognizing Love. Real Love, because... until that point, she really didn't knew what True Love is.

She never loved Angel. Or better, she loved him as much a teenager can love for the first time. And because their relationship didn't take the normal course due to that pesky curse... it became something “storybooky”, without the proper closure: the guy she couldn't have because external forces didn't permit it. If Angel and Buffy had dated properly, probably – certainly – after some time they would have split up, as Buffy matured and left behind her teenager years and dreams.

Now, I'm joining the witness protection program, bye.

 

[EVIL UU]

She never loved Angel.

Buffy: I killed Angel! Do you even remember that? I would have given up everything I had to be with- I loved him more than I will ever love anything in this life. And I put a sword through his heart because I had to.

 

[gite63]

Buffy: I killed Angel! Do you even remember that? I would have given up everything I had to be with- I loved him more than I will ever love anything in this life. And I put a sword through his heart because I had to.

Exactly... she didn't know real love then... that's why she is so thrilled in discovering Spike's love... real love... in my theory, any way.

 

[EVIL UU]

Yo, I may not know much about love but when Buffy says that she loved Angel more than anything she will ever love in this life - I believe her and I certainly think that she knows better than @gite63

 

[NothingVentured]

To be fair, she's so stupid she didn't even know she was a robot. We can't take her word for granted on anything.

 

[thetopher]

That Buffy didn't love Angel is utter and total fanon. It's almost straight up Bangel-hate actually.
Because some people (small, immature people) can't enjoy something nice without having to try and tear down something else to make their ship look better.

I can buy that Buffy doesn't love Angel now, maybe- that's certainly possible after Twilight, but never? Delusion.

 

[NothingVentured]

Just because you saw it on the show doesn't mean it happened.

The way they write these things, would you really be surprised if suddenly Buffy agrees with the Spuffy fandom that it was really just immature puppy love and infatuation and Spike is the embodiment of love itself? I wouldn't.

 

[janas]

Just because you saw it on the show doesn't mean it happened.

The way they write these things, would you really be surprised if suddenly Buffy agrees with the Spuffy fandom that it was really just immature puppy love and infatuation and Spike is the embodiment of love itself? I wouldn't.

Exactly. I wouldn't be at all surprised, indeed I expect to happen just that. Buffy, in this season, is the Spuffy fandom voice and she says exactly everything Spuffy always wanted her to say about Spike, so I'll not be surprised if she said that never loved Angel. At this point in story, they can't minimize Spuffy, because DH would be attacked by an angry mob that threatens reprisals.
...is enough to see some twitters about this crossover to understand what I'm saying 😵 Anyway DH can't totally ignore the shows in favor of this spuffy fanfics that the season ten is. So...to each their own.

 

[gite63]

I believe her and I certainly think that she knows better than @gite63

Andrew didn't know that he liked guys. Buffy said:

I'm terrible at everything that doesn't end with slaying. I'm not well rounded. I have lots of corners. And most of them pointy.

So, it isn't a simple "I know more than Buffy" issue. You can say that what I wrote is fanfic - I don't write fanfic, by the way - but sometimes we don't know what we feel, or we think we feel love, and it isn't - till we find real love. 

Because some people (small, immature people) can't enjoy something nice without having to try and tear down something else to make their ship look better.

Are you talking about yourself? I think you are.

 

[VisionBoy]

She never loved Angel. Or better, she loved him as much a teenager can love for the first time.

That's a bit patronising. And if that applies to Buffy, it should apply to all the teen characters. So Oz and Willow are automatically downgraded too.

Why one has to be shot down for the other I have no idea. So in Buffy's whole life, she's loved more than one guy. So what? Why does her relationship with Angel need to be cancelled out? It's not like Angel is around.