Rewatching Buffy from the Beginning [Throwback Thursday]

I love writers and I love good stories. One writer that has captivated my imagination for years is the über-talented Joss Whedon. I hear his name associated with a project and I simply MUST know more. However, it wasn't always that way. It began with the story of a high school girl starting in a new school, wanting desperately just to get along without making any waves; it started with Buffy Summers who had the unfortunate burden of being the Vampire Slayer.

Dani, author of the GeekGirl's Manifesto, and fellow contributor to Word of the Nerd, organized a virtual viewing party for us as she gets ready to read Season 8 of BtVS in graphic novel form (Buffy fans, you need to read this!). I am using the time to read my new book The Psychology of Joss Whedon before his version of The Avengers hits theaters this May.  It's a great opportunity to share insights about the show and just geek-out, in general.

For fellow Buffy fans, I hope you join the conversation, for others, perhaps this will intrigue you enough to give the old show a shot! I present to you our reactions for the first two episodes, as collected and transcribed by Dani: 

For the next few weeks some of the lovely ladies from Word of the Nerd, are going to join me as we complete a re-watch of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Joining me this week are Becca, Nicole and Corinne.

Episode 1: Welcome to the HellMouth

DANI: Okay...the first thing that jumped out at me on the rewatch is that the first guy to die (I have to look up his name) went on to have a regular recurring role on 'CSI-Miami'. So, for some people, being vamp bait in BtVS is not the career equivalent of being a red shirt on Star Trek. *lol* Besides that, I love a series that starts quickly and a vamp bite within the first 2 minutes counts as 'fast'. And the writing. I love the fact that the 'quips' start flying so early in the series.

BECCA: The actor who died is Eric Balfour who went on to die in many more movies & tv shows.

DANI: All that aside, I've always found 'The Master's' main henchman to be annoying. And it strikes me as funny that after he is killed off in this season, he reappears in a later episode as another vampire. Talk about being type-cast. The poor only guy ever plays bad guys (the BtVS equivalent of the red shirt actor curse, perhaps?)

...Girl Power as an Archtype

NICOLE: 

Thinking of episode 1 there were a number of things that struck me. The first was that one major theme of the entire show was made clear from that very first vamp bite - girls can be powerful, too. I know it is almost cliche to bring up such a thing when talking about Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but it seems to me that the first scene was designed to make us think the girl was going to be the typical horror story victim, and them - WHAM! - she's a monster! So that scene really was a huge one-two punch: 1. there will be action, 2. females are powerful. I loved that.

DANI: You are so right about the opening sequence and the idea that the female would be the victim. It does set the tone for the rest of the show, really.

...Angel's Fashion Sense

DANI: Oh yeah...and WTF is up with that 'shiny' satin/velvet coat they put on Angel in Ep 1??? Are we going for vampire kitsch here or what?!

NICOLE: I'm cracking up over here about Angel's jacket! I had to go back and check it out after reading Dani's comment! It really IS shiny! How did I miss that? And... what was costume design thinking?? I'm desperately trying to remember the styles of the late 90s to see where that fits, but I can't figure...

...YA Novels Related to the Series

CORINNE: Did anyone ever read the YA novels that came out for the series?

NICOLE: I did not read any of the YA novels, but I did get started on season 8 in the comics and I read FRAY, as well. I didn't know there were YA novels!!

CORINNE: The YA novels were really good. Amazon has a few used. Christopher Golden was one of the writers, I can't recall the other woman that wrote for them. They did a 3 or 4 part series on Dark Willow too that expounded on some stuff that she might have done between scenes in the series. The books tried to keep a good handle on what was going on in the series and gave fans a chance to see old characters from the show and movie return. Pretty cool.

...The Bronze and Music in the Show

NICOLE: I also was wondering when I watched this episode whether or not Buffy was the first teen show to set up the whole "regular hang out with music" place. I'm sure it wasn't, but the inclusion of the Bronze and the new music in every episode seemed to flow very naturally for me in this series. I hadn't remembered that it started all the way back in episode one. 

DANI: I noticed something similar, only my issue is more with the fact that I never saw a place like that when I was in highschool. And even if there was one (I went to HS in Orlando, and heaven knows that city is big enough) I wouldn't have been allowed to go out to a club like that. That said, the music forms a kind of linking 'net' throughout the series as a whole, often showcasing up-and-coming bands of the time, while using songs that speak to the actions/emotions of the characters.

...Continuity Issues
NICOLE: The only other comment I can think of about episode 1 is: I hope when they first aired the show they started it off with a two hour special and did not leave people hanging for a whole week to see what would happen to Buffy!! I started watching the show in season 2 or 3 (I forget which one), so I had the benefit of flying through the first season on the wonderful technology of VHS tape borrowed from my friend.

CORINNE: I noticed the time/continuity issue as well. I wonder if it had something to do with the fact that Whedon was unhappy with how campy they ended up making the movie and maybe the series was his chance of a 'do-over' since he was acting as the showrunner/exec producer?

CORINNE: I remember when I first saw this ep thinking okay the movie ended with her graduating high school and the series is starting with her being a sophomore, yeah I can live with that. 

...On Willow, Xander and Cordy

 DANI: I was such a Willow in HS, so I'm sure that is why I can completely appreciate the whole 'high school' is hell thing that Whedon was going for -- and it works for me. I spend most of my time wanting to throttle Cordy. And actually think in the early episodes that Xander is cute in a 'geekily endearing' sort of way. 

CORINNE: Oooh Angel and Xander, drool!

Episode 2: "The Harvest" (AKA: Welcome to the Hellmouth - part 2)

Did you find Xander and Willow's reactions believable or not?

DANI: I liked the 'mini-history of vampires' Giles gives near the start of this episode. In many ways I think it points to the later 'book-sessions' that the Scooby-Gang has to find out info -- while at the same time playing up the stunned reactions from Xander and Willow. I think Willow's reaction was very believable (I would have reacted similarly). I love this exchange:

Willow: "I think I need to sit down."Buffy: "You are sitting."Willow: "Oh. Good for me."

NICOLE: I almost addressed this in my discussion of episode 1 since Xander had the weird eavesdropping in the library discovery of Buffy's slayer status. I'm happy I waited. I find them believable BECAUSE Xander has had a little more time to mull this over than Willow. He confronted Buffy with it in ep 1 with the appropiate "this girl is crazy" type of reaction. Then, both Xander and Willow were in a situation WITH Vampires where they actually saw one turn to dust BEFORE Giles tried to explain them away as if they were a normal part of everyone's lives. Had they not had these experiences, I would have expected a lot more laughing, skepticism and, ultimately, avoidance of the library.

Angel's random 'pop in/give cryptic message/vanish' act -- Does that annoy anyone else?

DANI: I can SO understand where Buffy is coming from when she complains about him doing this. The fact that Buffy complains about his 'Mr. Cryptic' routine makes me wonder if it is intentional. In many ways, Angel is doing the same sort of thing that Giles does -- popping up with doom and gloom warnings, then leaving her to do all the hard work. Kind of like Angel is the 'Anti-Giles' (non-father-figure), but does the same sorts of things that Giles does.

NICOLE: I think, in the beginning episodes, the mystery of Angel was laid on a bit too thick. In hindsight, it all made sense, but going through the motions it felt a bit annoying. Like DUDE WHO ARE YOU?! It seems evident that he is interested in Buffy (estowing her with gifts), but one has to wonder... is he some sort of creepy stalker?!

What do you think of 'The Master'?
DANI: I like the idea of him as a plot point, because the first 'baddie' needed to be something that would galvanize the group. But at the same time, I find it kind of funny that he has so many 'Nosferatu' qualities similar to the first vampire movie -- minus the fluffy eyebrows and huge ears. That said, I think his 'finger of death' trick at the end of the episode was completely cheesy and totally paying homage to Nosferatu.

NICOLE: Without a doubt, Master = Nosferatu. Also, I think the Master was the opportunity for Whedon to demonstrate the level of campiness he is willing to accept. It is obvious that the Buffy movie came from Whedon, but someone made a caricature of it. Whedon can be hilariously funny, and then there are times his humor rides the line of corny (which is fine with me). I think they both have their place and he (and his writing team) do a great job of balancing it all with the horror elements of the show. In my opinion, the Master is one tool for this purpose in the first season.

So that's it for now.
Fellow fans, what are your thoughts about the first two episodes?
For those who have never seen BtVS, did you just miss out on it, or were you avoiding it?
What show from your past would you like to get nostalgic with and re-watch?
**this last question is important... I have plans in the works here!

Don't forget to check out all of these lovely ladies at their respective websites, or to  see more of us all in one place, come check out Word of the Nerd!

My February in Review: Books

I did not get to read all the books I had lined up for this month, but that, in no means, should be interpreted as a month bereft of reading for me. First and foremost I am enrolled in a writing workshop with the wonderful Susan Spinal of Harry Potter for Writers that had lots of writing in it. Secondly, with my work over at Word of the Nerd, I have gotten lots of new assignments that were equally enjoyable and distracting. So, reading happened. Not all of the books could be logged into the Goodreads challenge, because not all were there, but here, for your own reading pleasure is a rundown of all the reading I did last month.

Cinder: Book One in the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

Once I realized how much my regular reading time was going to be taken up by my writing workshop this month, I decided to hook myself up with a new audiobook to listen to in between lessons. I found the YA novel Cinder: Book One of the Lunar Chronicles that had an intriguing title, cool looking cover design and a description discussing cyborgs, androids and Cinderella - my curiosity was piqued.

My husband quickly got used to hearing my "robot book" while I was cooking dinner, cleaning house and folding laundry. Every minute I wasn't reading or writing I was wrapped up in Cinder. And now I am anxiously awaiting the continuation of the tale. Cinder  is a truly unique re-imagining of the Cinderella fairy tale and re-imaginings are just about my favorite things when done correctly!

Think of what you know about Cinderella. She is a poor mistreated girl left to live with her step-mother and step-sisters after her father's untimely death. She is beautiful, but due to her stature and position in a world where class matters, no one really seems to notice. Through it all Cinderella finds happiness in her world trying desperately not to be brought down by those who constantly belittle her. In the fairy tale, Cinderella magically finds her way to the prince of the kingdom who notices her, falls in love with her and after a quest of his own sweeps her out of her world into a happily ever after.

Marissa Meyer takes this well-known tale and brings it to a world that mixes the advancement of technology and space travel with the decimation of a plague that is destroying the people of New Bejing. Cinder, our protagonist is a cyborg, which is considered "less than" in her society and, just like Cinderella, is stuck living with her step-family which uses her for nothing more than a handyman and income (Cinder is a mechanic). While the methods in which Cinder meets her prince, makes it to her ball and her true beauty is recognized are completely different than that of the original tale, they are all apparent and written in such a way that makes Cinder an adventurous, fantastic tale all its own.

I don't want to give away too much about Meyer's plot. The world she built for Cinder is completely new and the characters that populate it are full of life. Of course I would be remiss if I did not give the narrator of the audiobook, Rebecca Soler, some credit for this as well. She swept me away with her robotic voices and reading of some really fun girly-glee (the prince is a heart throb!).

Here's a sample of the audiobook, provided by Macmillan Audio, just so you can hear for yourself how quickly you can get swept away...

I guess it is sort of obvious that I recommend this book to any YA fans out there. However, one other cool Cinder-related note is that this Monday's Book Love post will be a guest post from the author of this great book! After reading it I became so curious about her inspiration, I asked her what her first book love was, so be sure to hop back to Rivera Runs Through It on Monday to see her response!

The Lorax by Dr. Suess

I promise you this isn't cheating. I have never read this book before and when I got really sick early on in the month my husband sat with me and read it in bed to me. (Is this too ridiculous for you to handle?) Of course I wanted to read the book before I saw the movie and when I did I was overcome with joy. I'm wondering how I have never read this before - especially in all the time while I wrote for my blog Searching for Sustenance!

I am now, of course, terrified by what Hollywood is going to do to this story. Will the message be upheld or will there be such an effort to bring the laughs (and the money) that it will all be lost. After knowing now what the story is about I am actually unsure I want to see the movie at all. I simply don't want my heart to be broken. 

The Rest of February's Reads

Wow. I didn't realize it, but all of my other reads have been documented already in some form or another! Here is a list of links to their reviews if you missed them:

• Broetry: Poetry for Dudes This book from Quirk books seemed like the perfect type of book for the Word of the Nerd crowd, so I write up a review for that site and also linked it up here on Rivera Runs Through It.
• Between Gears This was a great find during last week's trip to the comic book shop. I loved it so much I wrote a review shortly after having read it. I couldn't really wait for my month-end review.
• Benaroya Publishing books I read a bunch of books by Benaroya publishing this month for the Word of the Nerd site. I wrote reviews for each of them getting ready for their March releases. The first I read was Samurai's Blood which I thoroughly enjoyed. Then there was Marksmen which reminded me of GI-Joe mixed with some dystopian tale, and finally Red Spike a super soldier story that left me asking, "WHY do these scientists keep trying to make super soldiers?!"
• Stick City This was a preview of a first issue of an independent comic coming out in limited release this April. It was also my first assignment for Word of the Nerd and my first read of February. I really, really liked it, but I tend to like very bizarre, funky stories when it comes to my comics. Here's the review so you can get a taste for it and see if you want to pre-order it.

Well, that's it. To be honest, before I sat down to write this post I thought there were more book reviews that actually needed to be included in this post. I guess you can see now why my Goodreads book counter hasn't budged too much this month even though I've done a good share of reading (remember all of my lessons for my super cool workshop are not on this list either!), but maybe I'll make more of a move toward my magic 52 in March!

What were your reads in February?

Are you a part of the Goodreads 2012 Reading Challenge as well? If so, how are you doing?

Do you have any recommendations for me to read in the month of March? 

 

If you are interested in buying any of these books through Amazon, it would be super-cool if you followed one of these links to do so, then I would get a commission from the sale at no extra cost to you!

Reevaluating My Own First Book Love

On Friday, while thinking about books, first book loves and all of the great stories I have come across so far from the people who have participated in the book love project, I suddenly craved more stories. Since I had also just signed up for a book exchange on Reddit (read about that coolness in my post at Word of the Nerd), I recalled that I was part of a pretty cool book community there and decided to ask my "big question": What was your first book love? of the reddit community. The discussion was amazing, so much fun and, most important of all, enlightening to me.

You see, while engaging in discussions with lots of other people about their first book love I was reminded of my own: The Monster at the End of this Book! When another redditor claimed it as their first book love, I was instantly swept away to multiple memories of laughs, rereads and sharing the book with my little brother. I responded on reddit with the following comment:

In all honesty I keep wondering if I should rewrite my own first book love story and write about this book. The only problem is that I don't readily recall when I was introduced to it, how I was introduced to it or when I first read it. I simply remember this book always being around, always reading it, always laughing and loving it. I cherished my original oversized copy of this book until it was destroyed in a flood we had here in 2010. If I EVER see the oversized version of this book again, I am grabbing it up. My husband just recently bought me the sequel to this book that came out recently pairing Grover with Elmo. Also a great book, but there is nothing quite like Grover laying bricks across the page.

It was part of the redditor's response that really struck home to me next:

It was like my little brain's Sixth Sense--the twist was just mind-blowing.

That was it! Or at least part of it... Not only was this book visually engaging, about a character I knew and loved, but, on top of all of that it had this wonderful twist in the end. It was great storytelling in all of its simplicity. Jon Stone, like any good mystery writer, had not held back anything, all the clues were there. In fact, everything was right on the cover, we readers needed to look no further. However, in our fascination with the lovable and furry Grover we could not not see what was plainly before us. As Mike Smollin's illustrations distracted us from the obvious page after page, our curiosity drove us to keep turning against all of Grover's pleas because, as scary as the conclusion might be, we thought, If Grover can do it, so can I.

I will not spoil the ending for those of you who have not yet had the joy of reading this book. I will, instead, share the book with you through the wonderful magic of YouTube. However, before I leave you with this techie treat I will say that there is some real reader magic missing in this translation. For the purists, I highly recommend that you find this book in its tangible form to read and turn the pages with your own fingers and hands. I will tell you personally I don't think anything made me feel so powerful as a child as my ability to pull down each of Grover's constructs. I believed him when he said I was strong.


So, I'm pretty sure this is it. This is my earliest book memory and, as both my parents have passed on, I have no one to ask if there is one that I connected with before it. However, as I said on reddit, I don't remember the first time I read this book. I don't recall if it was read to me, with me or by me on my first read. What I do know is that this book is in my forever memory, as if I never lived without it. I know that when I saw it float by me in my basement flood I felt like someone had kicked me in the stomach. I know that I can still read this book today and capture a moment of childhood within its pages.

I don't think I could ask much more from a book. Therefore I have a couple of thank yous to dole out:

Thank you Jon Stone, not only for this book, but for all of your work on Sesame Street.

Thank you Mike Smollin for drawing such a lovable Grover and such believable brick walls.

Thank you Grover, for being just as scared as the rest of us, and showing us how silly that can be!

What are your impressions of The Monster at the End of This Book?

How do you feel about the read aloud videos like the one here in comparison to a tangible book?

If you would like to share your story of your first book love, e-mail me at blogwithnv@gmail.com!

 

Quickie Check-In #2 for ROW80 2/5

This might be the quickest check-in ever. It's SuperBowl Sunday, I'm a New Yorker, and the GIANTS are in the game!! Much needs to be done celebrated on this day...

With that said, I do have obligations to my ROW80 Challenge. On last Wednesday's check-in I reassessed my goals and rewrote a number of them. In the short span of time that has elapsed between then and now, some more rewriting needs to happen!

A Shift in Focus on "Spreading Out"
 
Since I have started ROW80 I have placed a large emphasis on writing for the Yahoo Contributor Network. This was part of my "Spreading Out" goals. Well, this past week I got a couple of offers to allow me to spread out without feeling like a hamster in a wheel. First off, I have been asked to do guest posts on a couple of blogs (one of them being from Chris at The Carpe Diem blog who shared his book love story with me) and secondly I have become one of the regular writers on The Word of the Nerd website, which I am very excited about. So, my Yahoo Contributor's Network is going to go on the back burner right now, which is where it was starting to feel like it belonged anyway (there is an insane amount of competition for visibility when you're a newbie like me, I have to work up my presence there slowly).

Reading Like I Have ADHD

I haven't finished any books since Wednesday (except for the preview issue of a comic book called Stick City I did a review for on Word of the Nerd), but I have started (I wish I was joking...) at least three more books on top of what I was already reading. My brain will implode shortly, but I'm riding this wave until Wednesday, at least. At which point I should have completed at least one of the books.


Three Hours of "Writing"


I forgot how much time editing takes. I was working on a short story piece for the Write On Edge prompt this week that flowed pretty quickly. I was happy with my work, but at word count time found that it was nearly 700 words. The prompt specifically said 400 words or LESS. I spent the entire day pairing it down. I made it, but my time set aside for writing on Friday was gobbled up by this process. So... does it count? I think so. Editing is a part of writing and I was working on a creative piece. Although it ended up on my blog, I don't really consider participation in the Write on Edge activities as "blog writing" in the strictest sense of the term. I participate in them regularly to hone my craft.

Those are my biggie thoughts about my ROW 80 challenge at this point in the week. Tomorrow begins my month long online writing workshop where I'll learn some of JK Rowling's greatest writing lessons from the expert in the matter, Susan Sipal. I can't wait!

Here's the list of the ROWers checking in this weekend - show your support!