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SFX Blogger Stacey Whittle rediscovers the joys of geekiness beyond just her beloved comics
Because I blog a lot about comics and comic conventions and I podcast about comics, sometimes I am so saturated in the comic world that I forget that I am more of a geek then just a comic geek. I love genre films and television series and books too. Then something will just click and I'll remember why I love genre stuff so much.
Something like that happened recently, I re read The Naming Of The Beasts by Mike Carey. I am a massive, huge fan of these books, I can't emphasise that enough. I love the way they are written, I love Felix, I love his friends; his world is so well written it is real to me. This particular one is so filled with tension and peril that it is difficult to put down, and I am now filled with longing for the next book in the series.
I really love well written urban fantasy books; my love of Harry Dresden and The Dresden Files books by Jim Butcher is a little disguised fact. This week, I also read Ghost Jobs , a book of short stories based in Harry's universe. Though not really a good starting point for new readers (because these stories coming after the end of the last book in the series, Changes and the immense impact on the Dresden world), they are just a glorious, delicious treat.
Last week I caught a rerun of a Buffy episode on telly. I haven't watched the Buffster in an age. I was a massive fan at the time; it was a show that just resonated with me. The episode I happened to catch last week though, was never a favourite – I didn’t really get it: I thought it slightly diminished Buffy and I remember not really liking that. I remained glued to this episode throughout, and as a grown up I just got it. It rang all sorts of heartbreaking bells. The episode is “As You Were” from season six of the show. It’s the one where Riley turns up married and happy, highlighting to Buffy all her failings and the wrongness in her life; her job in the Doublemeat Palace and her destructive relationship with Spike, her struggle with being an adult and providing for herself and her sister and trying to balance her other life as the Slayer.
How many of us as adults juggle our lives, are glad our exes can’t see us right now and are striving to be in a better place? This episode operates on a whole other level and it just proves to me once again that BTVS is the gift that keeps giving, and maybe it’s time for a full re-watch. The absolute best part is Riley's speech at the end, when he explains to Buffy that her circumstances are not the important bit, they are not who she is, but the person inside – that’s what matters. Certainly as far as I’m concerned, when I look at my circumstances and imagine how people will judge me, not knowing me, advice that brought tears to me eyes. Go Riley – who knew!
So I have found my full inner geek once more, and celebrated her by watching an episode of Babylon 5 , the trailer for the new Thundercats , pre ordering Ghost Stories by Jim Butcher and watching the first few episodes of the recently acquired (thanks Gareth) Voltron box set with the kids – brilliant!
