Buffy comics, Heroes fanfic rec, fannish5

[selenak]

Darth Real Life has me in his claws again. So, briefly:

Buffy, season 8, issue one: this is as good a time as any to declare how I stand on the canon or not question. Basically, same as with Babylon 5, where JMS after the show ended wrote a couple of short stories himself, one of which I absolutely adored and definitely regard as canon (guess what, it deals with Londo), one I liked (Lyta and G'Kar) and one I carefully avoided, because the mere description makes me blanch (it involves Marcus Cole and... well). Then there were some authorized-by-JMS novels by other writers, for which the same principle applies; I liked some of them, disliked or was left indifferent by others, and some I have mixed feelings about. Do I regard it as canon in the same sense I do the show itself? No. On screen canon trumps all; I take what I like of the written addendums and ignore the rest.

So, far, as of the first issue, I like Joss' Buffy comics continuation very much (even if it josses one of my favourite fanfics; ah well, happens to us all): it's a delight to encounter Buffy's voice again, the two plot threads set up (new enemy - allied with old aquaintance from Buffy's past - and new mystery) look promising - and btw, the new enemy makes me wonder whether this is going to become a Whedonian response to "how I'd have written Civil War" - and I'm just thoroughly charmed by it all. Doesn't mean that I'll regard any fanfic ignoring this set up now as AU; it's one of many things in the multiverse.

Secondly, fanfic rec, because now that I've watched the available Heroes episodes and am cruelly condemmed to waiting for more along with the rest of you, I went, of course, looking for fanfiction:

On Hiro getting shot, discovering a sad truth about waffles, and receiving a lesson on how to speak Petrelli

Future fic, no spoilers. What it does have are Hiro, Ando, Nathan and Peter, and great characterisations all around. Hiro pov.



Thirdly, fannish5: List your five favourite fictional teacher or mentor figures

This is trickier than it looks. Because I easily list favourites of mine who were/are teachers, but.... Well. Laura Roslin, Irina Derevko (when posing as Laura Bristow) and Emma Frost were/are at some point teachers in their lives, but that is not their function in their main narrative; they're not defined as mentor figures in their texts, that's not their archetype, and thus I suppose listing them would be cheating. Which leaves me with:

1) Charles Xavier (X-Men). (Either movieverse or comicverse) Aka he who, depending on who writes him, is a cross between Martin Luther King and a manipulative bastard. Obviously, I'd be fond of him even if he weren't played by Patrick Stewart in the movies.

2) Qui-Gon Jinn (Star Wars). Has dignity, does not have snobbery about "lesser lifeforms", a sense of humour, and is not above cheating when gambling. Also has the advantage of being played by Liam Neeson. I'm very fond of him.

3) Severus Snape (Harry Potter). Is a terrible teacher (just one of those born research types) unless he teaches via scribbled instructions on his former school books, but definitely the most interesting character in his 'verse to me. But "favourite" does not imply the teacher figure has to be good at his job, otherwise I'd have listed Lupin (in whom, however, I am far less interested in or emotionally involved with).

4) Gandalf (Lord of the Rings). Aka the original mentor who dies and comes back. The thing about Gandalf: put him in a room with one or two hobbits, and I'm brimming with love, whether it's Bilbo, Frodo or Pippin, in either the novels or the movies. Otoh, sans hobbits, I'm more fond of movieverse Gandalf, if you allow me the heresy. Either way, though: definitely a favourite.

5) Palpatine (Star Wars - specifally, prequel era). Nobody said this teacher and mentor was supposed to guide the student in question towards their better selves. The Emperor was just a cackling villain in the OT, but prequel era Palpatine manipulates, at various points, Padmé, Anakin, and the entire Jedi Council, and Ian McDiarmid rocks in the role. And yes, (dark) teacher/mentor is definitely his function in the narrative. Also? The opera scene in Revenge of the Sith? Best seduction to Dark Side scene ever.

Comments

[ruuger]

I'm in the 'meh' camp myself, though my biggest problem is with the comic format itself which I think is a bit too 'slow' format for Buffy.

makes me wonder whether this is going to become a Whedonian response to "how I'd have written Civil War"

Well, someone on my f-list just linked to an interview of Joss where he said that there will not be Buffyverse Civil War, so I'd say he's at least thought about it :)

Btw, have you heard that there will apparently be AtS S6 as well? Written by Brian Lynch who did a very good job recently with the Spike: Asylum comic (it only had Spike and Lorne of the regular cast, but the dialogue and storytelling were very whedonian).

[selenak.livejournal.com]

The odd thing is, though I read and write more AtS than BTVS, I'm less interested in an Angel comics series. *shrugs*

Having read Astonishing X-Men for a while (i.e. two years) now, I have no problem with the slower format...

[ide-cyan.livejournal.com]

It's funny that all the characters you disqualify are women, and all the ones you list are men. There aren't that many proper mentor figures in popular/genre culture who are women who spring to mind, are there? On Buffy, there were... well, Professor Walsh and Gwendolyn Post, who both turn out to be evil and die pretty quickly. (Arguably, Buffy herself could be considered a mentor figure in later seasons, as could Starbuck during her appearances as an instructor to the nuggets.)

Who else is there? Zhaan, on Farscape. Xena (herself)? Lao Ma. Teyla? (For her sparring lessons with Shepard?) Professor McGonagall? I think there are a lot of them in "The Worst Witch", but I know that series only very peripherally. (Mrs Hardbroom reminded me a lot of Snape, during the few minutes of the TV show I happened to catch.) Cordelia Naismith, Countess Vorkosigan?

*ponders*

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Women and men: I noticed that, but I'm not sure whether it's a good or bad things as far as the writing for the three female characters I listed is concerned - because I actually like that Roslin isn't on the show to be, say, Lee's mentor (or Kara's) but is The Leader instead, that Irina is our female ambiguous character per excellence on Alias instead of being nothing more than Sydney's Mom (tm) or that Emma is not defined as Mentor To... either.

That being said: I'd also love it if I had female characters who are mentorly archetypes available in addition to, rather than instead of, these women.

McGonnagal I like, but I had to be honest, and I simply like Snape better, hence no Minerva on my list. But oh, you reminded me of Lao Ma and Xena. Duh! Not only did I love Lao Ma, but Xena herself does indeed work as a mentor figure, since given the show's end you can say the entire show is Gabrielle's heroic journey.

Zhaan I wondered about listing, but again, honesty. I like but do not love.

[ide-cyan.livejournal.com]

I'd also love it if I had female characters who are mentorly archetypes available in addition to, rather than instead of, these women.

*nod*

I was reminded of Lao Ma because of Laura Quilter's entries on X:WP for the FSF Wiki (http://wiki.feministsf.net/index.php?title=Main_Page).

Oh! Admiral Cain, in her brief appearance on BSG. But that's another dead female character.

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

If you're including evil mentor types, Lucas Buck has to take the prize, I'd say. (Of course, he plays many other roles than "mentor" in the series, but it's his role in the central plot arc.)

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

Not trying to deny or distract from the general point of female under-representation, but have you read Pratchett's recent "Tiffany Aching" subset of Discworld novels, in which we see Granny Weatherwax operating in full-blown mentor role?

[ide-cyan.livejournal.com]

Haven't read any Pratchett, except Good Omens.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Point taken - I think Lucas' central position blinded me to the fact that yes, he fits the parameter. (As Xena does, because both Caleb and Gabrielle are the developing characters, the ones getting mentored).

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

Was it Good Omens that put you off Pratchett or things you heard about his other work? I think you might enjoy, or at least be interested by, the Weatherwax-centric books. (If Good Omens did put you off, I wouldn't bother, despite the collaboration it gives a pretty good idea of his style.)

[buffyannotater.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I definitely would put both Lao Ma and Xena on my list. :-)