Buffy Seasons 6 & 7: An Alternative Viewpoint

Its no argument that seasons 6 & 7 of Buffy The Vampire Slayer has been rather controversial. With people saying its when the series started to go downhill. One of the complaints being is how unlikable the Scoobies has become. Most importantly Buffy. Before she was without a doubt a love or hate kind of character but the latter seasons really shifted her into the hate category. However lets take an alternate interpretation of her character in those seasons shall we?

At the start of season 6 Buffy died. Then got brought back to life. Yay. The problem with it? She was still buried and she woke up in a coffin. Ooooooh yeeeaaaaaah. And she had to scratch and dig her way out of her own grave. Then she discovers she's right back into the monster fighting chaos.

Now take this and add her previous traumas from the past seasons and add the fact that she mentioned she was in heaven before she was revived that can take a justifiably toll on a person's psyche. Something that would NOT take an episode to get over. No. This messed her up so bad that it had to take a season and a half before she is stable again.

Some could say why cant her friends help? Because they're wrapped in their own problems: Willow using powerful and dangerous magic, her crumbling relationship with Tara, Xander's anxiety over adulthood and getting serious with Anya, Giles being distant from the group, Dawns......It was a rough year for the gang. Lets leave it at that.

They're honestly the perfect examples of Shell Shocked Veterans. Buffy got the worst end of it though.

Put yourself in her position? She was forced out of heaven by her friends. One couldn't blame Buffy in growing resentful towards them because of that. And her treatment of Spike was her own way of venting out her frustrations, that and self destructive tendencies. Her having to fight her best friend who turned evil and came close to destroying the world didn't help much either.

Then Season 7 happened. Her first attempt at leading a group of potential Slayers was...messy. She wasn't a mother figure, more like the drill Sargent from Full Metal Jacket

A Slayer killed herself due to the mistreatment then Buffy called her a weakling. Just saying.

Buffy in alot of ways is a tragic character if you think about it. Before she became a slayer her biggest worry was getting a date for the prom. Not preventing the world from ending or monsters at her door. Then to add her leading a army full of Potential Slayers is like a parent not ready to raise kids being forced in a position to raise kids. Buffy was literally forced to grow up while never having the chance to experience what normal teens do. And to make things worse her friends had to experience it with her and they became just as fucked up as Buffy. You know the group is messed up when Faith's the sane one of the bunch!

Honestly Seasons 6 & 7 can be looked at as the group being a bunch of shell shocked veterans utterly broken by past events and go through a series of self destructive tendencies before trying to put themselves back together again. The last two seasons are Greek Tragedy in comparison to be honest.

Vision Quest

My planned goals.

Finish a story arc in one of my stories

Lose weight

Get a job.

Most Influencial Writers

There have been many writers that have inspired me to take up writing myself; a long list of them. So I'm going to showcase some key writers whom I felt have made an impact on my creative process. Lets get to it.

Top 5 Movies of 2015

Sup! With the year coming to a close I thought I'd do a top 5 ranking of my favorite movies of 2015, why top 5? Cause I feel 5 is a nice even number.

5:

A first ever three way tie between Kingsman, Spy, and Ant-Man. Despite the obvious differences they each have one thing in-common, they both surprised me in quality.

Melissa McCarthy is one of those comedic actresses I feel has potential and could really shine when given the right movie and I feel this was the right movie for her. And it had a old school spy film feel while being modern about it. What really sold me is how it gives me an Archer vibe.

I like McCarthy's character in that she plays a badass but more believably than you'd think. Without reaching invincible hero status in the process. First impression wise I'd put it on the same level as Kingsmen, I still do.

Ant-Man is a movie that came right when I was about to write the MCU off but Ant-Man managed to be genuinely entertaining. I thought all the characters played their parts well and I even liked the villain in this as he wasn't as irritating as most MCU villains whom isn't Loki and Hydra. Hell of a way to introduce Phase 3 into a promising direction.

Manners Maketh Man. The three M's of Kingsman. I remember coming into the movie with not so high expectations and afterwards I was like....Holy SHIT!!! This movie gave me a whole new appreciation of the spy genre. I'm pumped to see what the sequel has to offer!

4:

Tom Cruise may be crazy but he's the right kind of crazy. This was probably one of my favorite spy films from this year. It was action packed and suspenseful and it had a pretty good villain IMO. I dare say I like this better than Specter.

3.

What can I say about this movie that hasn't been said? The latter Furious films are what I'd consider to be The Expendables done right. It isn't all wink wink at the camera. No the Furious films are an 80's action film in a modern setting. As Andre The Black Nerd would say its pretty much a superhero film. Its like they are aware of how crazy they're getting and is embracing every aspect of the crazyness.

2.

Whaaaaaaat?!!! Yup. Now this list took alot of processing and thought because the race for the number one spot is a pretty close one. After observing both films there is only one movie I felt deserved the tippy top spot. Unfortunately its not this one.

Don't get me wrong I like this movie. To me I find it ten times better than the prequels yet I felt it missed something to truly earn that movie of the year title for me.

I cant give a thorough review without spoiling but don't worry. Expect a full review by the first of January. All I can say is I'd recommend watching The Force Awakens. Hell bring family along if you want a family get together. You wont be disappointed.

1. 

Anyone who have followed my blog shouldn't be surprised by this. Mad Max: Fury Road had everything I wanted in a movie and more. It had a kickass action heroine in Furiosa whom had to work for her win mind you and it felt like a real movie, not the typical glamorized hollywood BS that I usually see from blockbuster films.

Mad Max was like getting on a roller-coaster. A fun and exhilarating thrill-ride that I'll never forget. If you haven't seen it then I say go pick it up on blue ray. Its worth every penny.

Hero vs Hero And Why I Don't Write Em

With both Superman v Batman and Civil War coming out the same year, 2016, there seems to be a common theme relating to them. Heroes vs Heroes. I remember when I first heard about the news of a MCU movie adapted from Civil War I was like"Why make an adaptation out of a crappy comic arc?" Especially when you look at the fact that it hardly got a proper build up. Look at Age of Ultron, the heroes parted on good terms. Now Tony and Steve are at eachothers throats?

Then you have Batman V Superman. I give props in that they managed to give a bit of a reason for Batman to fight Superman but lets be honest. I don't think it wouldn't have hurt if Batman just talked it out with Superman. Especially the moment he noticed that Superman was all the more willing to turn himself in for his actions in Man of Steel.

Same thing with Cap and Iron Man. They've known eachother to where they could have talked it out. But thats the logical approach. Another problem with Civil War is how hypocritical it all is. Tony wants to bring Bucky to justice yet they let Wanda go with a slap on the wrist in Age of Ultron. Double Standard much guys?

What I also don't like is how gimmicky the hero vs hero concept has been. And the cause of the conflict happens in the most unoriginal manner possible. Two heroes or a group of heroes fight due to a misunderstanding. A misunderstanding?! Now the first Avengers movie I didn't mind much cause at least it was implied Loki was manipulating things behind the scenes. Yet they still continue to fight eachother in Ultron then in Civil War. Its to the point that I question if The Avengers can go one movie without fighting eachother? Next thing I'll know is they'll fight eachother in Infinity War till Thanos show up.

And we will probably get the same situation when an actual Justice League movie comes. Which is a shame as I was kinda hoping that if DC really wanted to separate themselves from Marvel then the first act is to NOT have Superman and Batman fight. Have them meet, talk it out, then work together to fight a common enemy.

Another thing I don't like about heroes vs heroes is how stupid it makes both sides look. Avengers vs X-Men. That is all.

I think the best methods in hero vs hero are usually when a villain has been manipulating the whole thing.

For instance in Justice League Unlimited we had the Cadmus Arc. It had heroes vs heroes but in the end it was Lex, and Brainiac who was manipulating the events. And what helped a bit was that there was alot of build up that led to the Cadmus arc. And in the end the heroes admit their mistakes then matured because of it. Cause the heroes learned from their mistakes Marvel!

Then in another Justice League Unlimited episode it had superheroines fighting eachother but one half of the superheroines were mind controlled at the time.

It was....glamorous.! And once again the villain was behind it.

I'd hardly,if ever, do a hero vs hero situation and usually when I do it usually is in a friendly competition scenario. Not fight over something stupid. Even in my Buffy series when Buffy and Angel first met the meeting was cautious at best but the two of them had enough maturity to understand that they're facing a bigger threat. Buffy might not completely trust Angel but the more allies against The Master the better.

And in Into The Darkness. Violet, at the time, wasn't a big fan of vigilante heroes but was all the more willing to work with one when handling a common threat. To the point where they even become friends.

Violet: "And that is all me and Obsidian are"

Nancy: "Whatever you say Vi"

Violet: "I'm involved with Chun, you know this"

But yeah thats my stake on the concept. To those who like it power to ya but just be aware that if one must do it, be creative about it.

Netflix, Supergirl, and One Punch Man: Oh My

Granted I haven't been watching much as far as tv goes. I'd catch up on some netflix and stream some anime. Other than that I've been mostly surfing the web or working on my projects. And when it comes to superhero shows my top shows are Supergirl, One Punch Man, and anything on Netflix.

I give marvel this. They've been killing it with their shows on Netflix, with the success of Daredevil and Jessica Jones. And the way I'm looking at it I'm looking forward to season 2 of Daredevil more than anything involving the MCU that isn't looked at by The Russos. Cause what the Netflix shows have going for it is good villains, well rounded characters, and better storytelling thats more mature than most of the things I've seen in the MCU. I'm anticipating for a possible season 2 of Jessica Jones.

Supergirl has been a breath of fresh air for me. Its not often I see a superhero series that actually embraces superhero tropes or see a superhero that is actually, you know, happy and isn't angsting over some meaningless BS. It has some flaws for sure but I'd take this show over shows like Flash or Arrow because this to me has actual superheroes who actually enjoy life and doesn't mope all the time. Not saying you cant have angst. Sometimes angst is a must but not to the point where you just don't give a shit because its drama just for the sake of drama. I also notice it takes more risk when compared to DC movies. And that is one of the reasons why I'm not completely into Flash and Arrow but I'll get to that in a moment.

One Punch Man, the best way to describe it is a superhero show if superheroes doesn't pull any punches. And its FUUUUUUN. Not the MCU kind of fun but real fun. Creative characters, villains, and the arcs makes me want to tune into the next episode.

As far as the others go...

I've stopped giving a crap about Heroes, don't care about the shows on ABC, then there's Flash and Arrow.

I'd always credit Flash in doing what the MCU failed to do which is provide the same sense of fun and drama but as of recently its fallen in the same traps as Arrow. Not as bad but if not careful. And with me its not so much karma houdini's, eventhough its just as bad, but with me I'm tired of the typical wangst that comes from the CW shows

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Wangst

And honestly I don't want to be that guy who'd watch the shows just to complain about them. If I feel unsatisfied about a show then I take a break. Which is why I've took a break from the Thor films. Maybe I'll come back if I hear some good things of Flash and Arrow but from a reliable source. But that is where I am now.

Evil Crack Pairing

Yet strangely enough, it works! In a twisted and fucked up way.