By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 10/9/2015
At the Dark Horse: CLASSIFIED! panel this afternoon at New York Comic-Con, a series of brand new licensed comics including new material from Aliens, Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, and The Legend of Korra was announced. The brand new Aliens comic is entitled Aliens: Defiance with writing from Brian Wood (Star Wars) and art from Tristan Jones (Mad […]
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 10/9/2015
Hey all, stay tuned to this page for live updates as we cover the Dark Horse CLASSIFIED panel. #dhclassified Panelists include Dark Horse PR rep Steve Sunu, Rebels writer Brian Wood, MIND MGMT writer Matt Kindt, and editor in chief David Marshall. 11:05- Brian Wood and Tristan Jones will write ALIENS: DEFIANCE, coming out April […]
By: Jennie,
on 12/15/2014
So I took a bit of a break from Cybils reading this week* because OMG GUESS WHAT WORDS OF LOVE SENT ME?
Never Judge a Lady by Her Cover by Sarah MacLean. And oh, it is just as delicious as I hoped. It's probably my favorite of her Rules of Scoundrels series. I love love love love that Chase was Georgiana from Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord. I'm also very excited about the glimpse we got of MacLean's new heroine for her new series (the first will release sometimes in 2015)
Some other non-Cybils things I've read this month?
Buffy: Season Ten Volume 1 : New Rules Woo-Hoo! Season 10 has started. Once again, consequences and repercussions are big themes. At the end someone shows up that proves I really should have been reading the Faith and Angel spin-off, because woah, what was that?! BUT! Dracula's around and the Dracula Xander bro-mance is in full swing, which is always fun and awesome. Now, I just need to wait for-EVER for the next one.
My hold on Mortal Heart finally came in, and, oh, another most wonderful end to a favorite series. Ever since I finished it, I've been trying to figure out which one is my favorite in this trilogy, and I just can't decide. They are all so great--there's no weak link or one particular standout, just straight-up excellence across the board. I was reading this one at a training and the person (NOT a librarian) across asked what it was and as soon as I described it as "historical fiction about assassin nuns in 15th century Brittany" she was on her library's website to see if they owned it. Because, I mean, of course she was! It's HISTORICAL FICTION ABOUT ASSASSIN NUNS. Although now I really want to read more about historical Brittany. Why isn't there an awesome YA nonfiction about the the 15th century Brittany? Someone should get on that for me.
I also read Mistletoe and Mr. Right: A Christmas Romance which I reviewed over here. If you don't feel like clicking over, I liked it.
In non-book reading, did you all see Kelly's poignant and powerful post about fatness in YA? Definitely click over to that one.
*Ok, I don't actually have any Cybils reading until January 1st, because I'm a second round judge. BUT, I'm reading my way through the long list anyway, partly for fun, partly for armchair quarterbacking, and partly so that when I do look at the short list, I'm that much more familiar with the titles and can then do deeper rereading instead of reading for the first time.
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By: Jennie,
on 9/15/2014
Volume 1: Freefall Joss Whedon, Georges Jeanty, Karl Moline, Dexter Vines
Volume 2: On Your Own Andrew Chambliss, Georges Jeanty, Cliff Richards, Karl Story
Volume 3: Guarded Andrew Chambliss, Jane Espenson, Drew Z. Greenberg, Georges Jeanty, Karl Moline
Volume 4: Welcome to the Team Andrew Chambliss, Georges Jeanty, Karl Moline
Volume 5: The Core Andrew Chambliss, Georges Jeanty
Ok, I’m just going to review all of Season 9 at once. It makes more sense that way. First off, there are only 5 volumes in Season 9, and that makes me sad.
Buffy’s living in San Francisco, trying to make rent and killing vamps in her spare time. She and Willow have some friction because remember how well Willow reacted to losing her magic in Tibet last season? Yeah, now that all the magic is gone from the world, it’s not easy. There are also major divisions in the slayer army--many were killed at the end of last season, but the ones that weren’t aren’t happy with Buffy for destroying the seed.
CONSEQUENCES. They’re even a bigger deal this season than they were last season. First, off World Without Magic is some seriously bad stuff that they have to learn to live with. I love the fact that Xander can’t uncoil--after years of fighting for his life, he can’t relax into normal life. I mean, I don’t love it, because Xander’s in a bad place and I like Xander, but I think it’s a very real consequence. Willow is having a hard time without magic, but one major character’s very existence is threatened by a world without magic. It’s amazing when it happens, because you don’t see it coming, and when it does, you’re just like “DUH OF COURSE”
A few big bads to deal with--ZOMBIE VAMPIRES (who Xander dubs “zompires”), who are basically feral--not the almost-human vamps we’re used to, and the Siphon, who sucks all special power out of you.
Buffy becomes friends with a cop, and they sometimes work together. An interesting character from the end of Angel shows up at the end. Spike’s around and occasionally we see him in his spaceship IN SPACE, because you know, WHY THE HELL NOT. But mostly importantly SPIKE IS AROUND. I love Spike. Kennedy has a side business of slayer bodyguards and there’s a very cool new slayer and watcher on the scene. A BOY SLAYER. He may not have actual slayer powers, but that’s not going to stop him.
I loved this, and I really loved the new complications they set up, and the new big bad we see coming for Season 10. Which comes out in November (UGH WHY SO FAR AWAY?!) I think with Season 8, sometimes Whedon was like “it’s a comic, I can do ANYTHING” and sometimes he did in ways that were fun, but weren’t necessary and sometimes took away from what makes Buffy work. He reigns that in a lot in Season 9. It’s much more about the characters, and we’re back to really just battling vampires. A new breed of vampires, but it’s back to basics (except for Spike’s spaceship, because… well of course you keep the spaceship?)
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By: Jennie,
on 8/13/2014
So, Twilight would have been a logical conclusion to the season, but no, this one’s all about consequences, so it takes a bit of a left turn here in a way that actually works.
So, Buffy and Angel can never just be happy--no when they had superpower sex they created an entire universe, and Buffy then abandoned it to return to Earth. But nature, even on other planes, abhors a vacuum and, well, there are consequences to creating a universe, and there are consequences to abandoning it. It all ties back to the seed of wonder--the root of magic on Earth that turns out is physical object… and it’s in Sunnydale.
The question is what to do with it--protect it? Destroy it? Give it away? The gang goes back to the beginning--back to Sunnydale and back to the Protector, who is an awesome bit of “casting” on the part of Whedon et. al. Some very nice parallels with the beginning of the series (and by that, I mean the first season that was on TV beginning of the series).
And of course, at the end of Twilight, we had Spike show up in a goddamned spaceship piloted by giant cockroaches because OF COURSE SPIKE NOW HAS A GODDAMNED SPACESHIP PILOTED BY GIANT COCKROACHES. (This makes me joyously happy, both for the WTF?! factor, but also because I just love Spike. Who doesn’t love Blondey-Bear?)
Things never go right in Sunnydale, and what happens there is devastating on so many levels, making it surprisingly satisfying end to the season, and perfectly setting up the Angel & Faith spinoff.
And oh man, I thought this season dealt well with the consequences of creating a slayer army? There are MAJOR consequences to what goes down in Sunnydale--ones that are going to haunt Buffy & Co. for a long, long time.
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By: Jennie,
on 8/7/2014
So… Dawn + Xander sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G. hee hee.
Ok, back to the main plot-- Buffy and Willow have to clean up the mess they unleashed in Tibet, but Buffy’s suddenly developed some startling powers--like being able to fly. Meanwhile, Willow’s figured out that the Scoobies are missing some key characters and is trying to find them--only to discover that slayer cells around the world have been attacked and decimated. Meanwhile, it’s time for the big Buffy/Twilight showdown only… the results aren’t what anyone was expecting (Well, maybe Twilight was.)
And hoo-boy, the reveal of Twilight is something else. (Not only in identity, but the dialogue in that moment is pretty awesome and classic.)
There are some old slayer legends that need to be brought to light, because when Buffy made all the potentials slayers, there was some MAJOR blowback, and that’s why Buffy has powers, that’s why Twilight’s been doing what he’s doing, and that’s why, when they finally meet, something REALLY big happens.
(Also, I’m still laughing at Dawn’s well-placed “Ben is Glory?” line. Perfect.)
Consequences, consequences, consequences. I think that’s what this season does better than most of the TV seasons did. (With the exception of Season 6.) Buffy changed the world-- there’s a reaction to that. And what Buffy and Twilight do, well, there’s major blowback to that as well.
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By: Jennie,
on 8/4/2014
Harmony’s PR campaign and Twilight’s army have forced the slayers into hiding. They’re losing members left and right and go to Tibet, to find Oz, to have him teach them how to suppress their magic. It doesn’t go well. Twilight’s still onto them. But hey! There is redemption for one character! Plus, OZ!
Oz is married and has a kid and Willow has some issues. She’s jealous he gets a “normal” life. She wants that, but also feels it’s fake, because who is she without magic? What is she without magic? Can she suppress hers like the others? Does she even want to?
There are also some major consequences for their actions that are worth considering.
I feel like this volume is a turning point for the series, because it’s where Buffy really has to start facing the consequences of what she’s done--creating an entire army of slayers upsets the balance and there’s a price to be paid for that. The full ramifications still have to be explored, but this is where you see that turning all potentials into Slayers might not have been the happy ending it appeared at the end of the TV-run.
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By: Jennie,
on 7/21/2014
Ok, so somehow I skipped reviewing this one.
Buffy and Willow are trying to figure out the scythe and Buffy somehow* ends up propelled into the future, where once again, there is only 1 slayer a generation. Buffy’s trying to figure out where everything went wrong to get back to that point (plus, how to get home) but she’s walking into a trap of a Big Bad that we’ve seen before. This time though, the ending is devastating. (This is also apparently a crossover with Fray, which is a Whedon comic I’ve never read, so I can’t speak to how to works on that side, but if you didn’t know it was a crossover, you’d never be able to tell.)
Meanwhile, back in the present, Twilight attacks the Scottish fortress that Buffy and Co. have the hanging out in.
It was a weird diversion of a comic because even though Twilight attacks, it still seems a little more “Monster of the Week” rather than over-reaching story arc. But, as I write this, I have read the rest of this season (heck, I even have the reviews written for the rest) and I can see its place a little more. Something I’ll start pointing out more is that overall, this season deals really well with the consequences of Buffy’s actions. And this gives Buffy a glimpse of the long-term consequences and she has to try to figure out how her future actions may mitigate going back to a “chosen one” Slayer lifestyle. That said, this is probably the weakest volume in Season 8.
*mystical magical convergence oddities
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By: Jennie,
on 6/24/2014
Harmony gets a reality show and when a loner slayer tries to stake her on camera, the world turns against the slayers and is suddenly very pro-vamp. Meanwhile, Giles and Faith walk into a trap, Andrew’s plans have backfired with major consequences, and we wrap up Dawn’s mystical enchantment storyline. Oh, and there are some very cute, and very evil, stuffed animals that may just destroy the world.
As annoying as Harmony is, she's a great character (in small doses). I love the fact that she's the one that turns the world pro-vamp, I mean, OF COURSE SHE DOES. The cute, evil, stuff animal story line is pretty funny.
BUT BUT BUT
Best part about Harmony’s return? She’s hanging out with Clem, so Clem’s back. I love Clem. CLEM.
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By: Jennie,
on 6/3/2014
Buffy left TV after Season 7, but Season 8 (and 9, and soon, 10) exist in comic form.
Weird vamps that can shift into fog and werewolves attack the slayers and steal the scythe. The Scooby gang quickly figure either Dracula’s behind it or someone’s stolen his powers.
I like this one because it takes the slayers to Japan and it involves lots of werewolves Also, DRACULA. I love Dracula and Xander together--they are hilarious. A very unlikely Bromance. That works really well. Plus, some interesting developments on Buffy’s love life and Dawn puts her giantness to good use.
It doesn’t really advance the overall plot arc, but it’s a really fun diversion. (Seriously, the banter between Xander and Dracula alone makes it more than worth it.)
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By: Jennie,
on 5/20/2014
So, this big thing to know about this one is FAITH FAITH FAITH FAITH FAITH.
I really grew to love Faith as a character ever since they defeated the mayor. She's complicated and fascinating. She's the star of this story, as Giles sends her to put down a rogue slayer, being "advised" by a warlock who works for Twilight (Season 8's Big Bad). Hilariously, this involves Faith pretending to be British aristocracy. The rogue slayer is being groomed to kill Buffy, unless Faith can stop her. Of course, in true Faith/Buffy fashion, no one's clued Buffy in to who's the good guy and who's the bad guy in this situation.
One of the things I loved about this was how it flashed back to the TV series so you see what Faith's demons are, with her narration. It really delves into her character and psyche more than the show did, which makes her even more complicated and fascinating.
At the end, there's a story about Buffy and Willow visiting some mystical forces, which reveals some secrets neither really want revealed, and some movement on Dawn's giant curse.
But, mostly, FAITH FAITH FAITH FAITH FAITH FAITH FAITH. (Also, a brief glance of Robin (Principal) Wood.
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By: Jennie,
on 3/24/2014
I know I’m totally late to this party, but Buffy didn’t end when the show did! Buffy lives! In comic book form!
So, now that all the potentials are slayers, they’re all divided up into different teams, working different parts of the world, killing baddies. But Willow’s missing, Amy’s back, and so is a gross skinless Jonathan. Plus, Dawn is a giant. And the Army thinks Buffy’s the enemy. All in a day’s work for a slayer!
But, this is a comic book with many over-reaching plot threads, and it jumps around a lot, which is a bit different from the show and took some getting used to. Also, while the characters look like the actors who played them, they’re still drawings and it’s a bit hard to get into. Luckily, the voice is still there, so I can "hear" it properly in my head. I’m really excited to see where this is going. I should have gotten a few volumes at ones, because I have to waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaait for the second one. It’s checked out. And I’m not the first person on the holds list for it! (Which is awesome, given these books came out in 2007 and they’re still popular!)
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By: Laura,
on 8/17/2011
As book lovers, we all have something in common: there’s too much to read and too little time. When I’m having a hard time deciding, I’ll often as my colleague Heather Doss. She’s one of our National Account Managers and one of the most well-read and knowledgeable children’s/young adult folks I know. So when I asked Heather which teen books she was excited about for the upcoming fall season, here’s what she told me:
SWEET VENOM by Tera Lynn Childs
ISBN 9780062001818
On-sale 9.6.11
“I’m a sucker for anything that is a retelling or twist of classic myths so was drawn to this book from the initial description. With three main characters each having their own personalities, this is perfect for teens that have grown up reading Percy Jackson while watching reruns of Buffy.”
DEADLY COOL by Gemma Halliday
ISBN 9780062003317
On-sale 10.11.11
“A murder mystery with a snarky Heathers feel so funny I literally spit a French fry at a pigeon while reading…genius!
VARIANT by Robinson Wells
ISBN 9780062026088
On-sale 10.4.11
“As a voracious reader, I feel like I’ve read it all & can usually figure out the plot before page 100 (not that that will stop me from reading). This boarding school thriller had a plot twist that I did NOT see coming & still has me puzzled to this day as to ‘what it all means’.”
THE GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS by Rae Carson
ISBN 9780062026484
On-sale 9.20.11
“A fantasy for those who think they don’t like that genre, a setting that is lush & exotic, a romance that develops naturally & not instantaneously, a female protagonist who starts off unsure of herself & finds her inner warrior: this one has all the elements of my favorite books combined into one fantastic read!”
FROST by Marianna Baer
ISBN 9780061799495
On-sale 9.13.11
“Call it the ‘attack of boarding school thrillers’ but this one had a very different feel from VARIANT: deliciously psychologically creepy while leaving you wondering by the end who or what was behind it all.”
THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER by Michelle Hodkin
ISBN 9781442421769
On-sale 9.27.11
“I’d had this debut from Simon & Schuster on my GoodReads list for over a year & dived into it the second I got my greedy little hands on the ARC: a psychological mystery wrapped in a steamy romance & a hint of paranormal activity.”
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By: Cate Gardner,
on 2/23/2011
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By: Lizzy Burns,
on 4/23/2010
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
The Plot: Buffy is a vampire slayer. There is only one slayer, one teenage girl to fight all the vampires and demons. Pretty bad odds. Luckily for Buffy, for seven seasons she has friends and family as she stops an apocalypse or two, fights vampires, demons, gods, and assorted other big bads. In other words? She saves the world. A lot.
Angel is a vampire, but one who has been cursed with a soul. The guilt from the atrocities he has committed puts him on the difficult road of redemption.
Together for three season, Buffy and Angel fight -- sometimes the bad guys, sometimes each other. Eventually he moves to Los Angeles and assembles his own team, and for five seasons he helps the helpless.
The Good:
You knew Buffy was going to be included in this list. It is, after all, my favorite television show in the history of the world. It is the inspiration for my blog name.
Joss Whedon has a gift for television. The man is a genius; in addition to Buffy and Angel, he is responsible for Firefly
First things first.
Whedon created a teenage girl who fought back. A tiny blond, who looks like the only things she thinks about are fashion, music, dating. Looks are deceiving, and while Buffy does care about fashion, music, and boys -- she also knows how to use a crossbow. Now, books and televisio
By: Lizzy Burns,
on 7/30/2009
I watched Twilight
And I liked it.
Especially this scene.
Carlie, appalled, insisted that I watch this instead right away to counter my joining Team Edward:
In my defense, I knew when I read the book and found it overwritten that it would work better, for me, visually. Also, the niece and nephew watched it and now want to be vampires (the good kind).
Finally, I realized that the scene above reminded me of something.... what could it be?
© Elizabeth Burns of A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy
By: Cassie,
on 5/21/2009
Mark Peters, the genius behind the blog Wordlustitude in addition to being a Contributing Editor for Verbatim: The Language Quarterly, and a language columnist for Good, and the author of Yada, Yada, Doh!: 111 TV Words That Made the Leap from the Screen to Society, is our guest blogger this week. Check out his past OUPblog posts here. In this post, Mark looks at how the -y suffix seems to have gone completely bananas.
Many lessons can be gleaned from watching reruns of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Indirect sunlight is not an unlife-ender for vampires. Some small-town mayors may yearn to become giant unholy snake things (no surprise there). As Cordelia Chase said, “People, you’ve got to leave your tombs earthed.” (Whoops, that was on the Buffy spinoff Angel—but whatever).
Amidst these practical tips for living, a lexical lesson emerged on the Joss Whedon show: the –y suffix is on a rampage, and it can attach to almost anything, as shown by on-show coinages such as crayon-breaky, heart-of-darkness-y, out-of-the-loopy, stammery, twelve-steppy, and unminiony, which were discussed by Michael Adams in Slayer Slang: A Buffy the Vampire Slayer Lexicon. Adams follows up on the adventures of the –y suffix in his new book Slang: The People’s Poetry, which records other wild examples from the web and elsewhere, including beliefy, four-lettery, Jesusy, super-protecty, and co-y—a blend of prefix and suffix without a traditional root, meaning codependent-y.
As friends and countrymen know, I am a modest soul who wouldn’t dare compete with the remarkable Adams in the octagon or elsewhere, but I’ll stack my pile of wacky –y suffixed words up against his any day. While collecting nonce words for my dictionary-blog Wordlustitude, I’ve scooped up plenty of Buffy-esque adjectives, such as come-hither-y, creepy-uncle-y, forbidden-love-y, gone-to-the-darksidey, homicidal maniac-y, pins-and-needles-y, post-traumatic stress syndromey, princess of darkness-y, self-hatey, and special-forces-y. Nuff said on the –y suffix, right?
Nuh-uh. Holy guacamole, there is a lot more to the story.
I’ve noticed a sub-species of unlikely –y suffixed words that is even more of a wonder, words that might be the biological equivalent of discovering a wombat that is half meerkat and maybe one-eighth Don Rickles: words like military-y, Monday-y, prophecy-y, and yay-y have a double-y construction that shows the –y suffix is even more versatile than Adams imagined and the Buffy writers demonstrated.
Before getting to the good stuff, it should be noted that odd-looking –y suffixed words are not entirely new-ish and Buffy-influenced. The OED records some infrequently used older terms with a contemporary zing: weekendy (1930), newspapery (1864), skeletony (1852), gossamery (1790), and heatheny (1580) are just a few examples. One oldie in particular is the lost cousin of the words I’ve been collecting: clayey, which popped up as far back as 1024 and is still turning up more recently: “PS: Don’t text during ceramics class, gets your phone all clay-y.” (March 17, 2009, Off-Screen I Ramble).
In an email interview, Adams said “As you know, when it comes to word formation, almost anything is possible, but when a word ends with a vowel, it’s unlikely to take -y.” That said, Adams’ own work has turned up vowel-vowel combos such as wicca-y and zebraey, while I’ve spotted the recently useful swine-flu-y. Some of the double-y words I’ve found are basically in the same category: birthday-y, doomsday-y, holiday-y, hoyay-y, killjoy-y, Monday-y, slay-y, soy-y, and yay-y repeat a letter but not a sound, so they look a little stranger than they are. That said, they are still damn strange.
Far odder and more unlikely are the double-y words where the same sound is repeated, such as biology-y, Buffy-y, comedy-y, conspiracy-y, democracy-y, gravy-y, history-y, jealousy-y, lady-y, memory-y, military-y, mythology-y, prophecy-y, secret-identity-y, spy-y, strawberry-y, synergy-y, technology-y, and theory-y. The repeated sound is also found in words like bee-y, me-y, pee-y, squee-y, and tree-y which look more normal alphabet-wise, but are just as weird soundwise. As Adams says, “That is simply the least likely pattern, and one wonders if such forms ever occur in speech; it’s a pattern easily constructed in Webtext—it’s readable, even if it’s not sayable.”
But it is sayable! Or at least it’s performable, as I discovered while watching the ultra-disturbing Christopher Reeve episode of South Park (”Krazy Kripples,” March 26, 2003), which contained this line from a reporter: “Tom, the irony is even more irony-y as it appears that the stem cells have given Christopher Reeve almost superhuman strength.” That example is also interesting for breaking the “all X-y” formula that encompasses just about all of my examples, which refer to people “being all guy-y,” getting “all Hillary-y,” “feeling all holiday-y,” and “smelling all strawberry-y.” It appears that this productive formula is stronger than the phonetic taboo of the double-y, allowing for a wide array of square, rhombus, and hippo-shaped pegs to be placed in this round hole.
But the –y suffix is also mighty, and there are other examples that show double-y words can occur outside this formula, like this Battlestar Galactica-related comment from Television Without Pity: “As for the moniker, at last night’s LA show the question came up again, and we got a pretty firm response from Verheiden that it was purely an aesthetic decision, made at the last minute—they thought ‘Zeus’ sounded ‘too mythology-y’ and preferred the rhythm of ‘Jupiter.’” Then there’s hoyay-y—a variation of the fan abbreviation meaning “Homoeroticism, yay!”: “I really like the Poconos one, but isn’t that a bit too hoyay-y for the friendship thread?” So the formula certainly helps, but it isn’t necessary to produce these whacked-out words.
Now if all that isn’t enough to give you new respect/loathing for the –y suffix as it expands/desecrates the English language, let me make your mind go kaboom once more.
After years of weird-word collecting, I’m pretty unfazed by words with multiple, redundant, exuberant suffixes. As the collector of battle-tastic-tacular-gasm-worthy and mega-legal-robo-proctologist, it’s going to take some pretty fancy suffixation to turn my head. However, even I was gobsmacked out of my chair when I spotted mystery-y-ish-y.
Yowza. That is a triply redundant suffix, plus a double-y, with sort of a triple-y. Mystery-y-ish-y is a lexical wonder, but it does have some slightly less wondrous near-relatives: I spotted analogue-y-ish-y, emo-y-ish-y, and orange-y-ish-y in the wild, so that particular combo of suffixes isn’t a total anomaly. But it is, dare I say, in my best Mr. Spock voice, quite anomaly-y.
More evidence of extreme suffixation can be found in the following list of examples, which may inspire your own uses of the –y suffix. After studying the evidence, I can strongly recommend that this suffix be used with no caution whatsoever. Like doughnuts—according to Homer Simpson and my own privately funded research—it really can do anything.
birthday-y
“yay other! Hope today’s all birthday-y and fun!”
(Nov. 6, 2007, Stationzer0)
candy-y
“decorations were amazing, i mean it’s all candy-y and fantasy like…. like from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, they had candy trees, ginger bread house, candy house… and loads of HUGE christmas trees…”
(Dec. 25, 2006, The One in Penang)
conspiracy-y
“i’m trying not to sound all conspiracy-y here, (trilateralists? bilderbergers? shadow government established by the 1947 roswell alien visit?), but…he’s not a stupid guy. i firmly believe he’s advancing his agenda, whatever it might be….and the fact that we conservatives, his alleged base, don’t like it means nothing to him at all.”
(Jan. 8, 2007, Riehl World View)
history-y
“But, unfortunately, the Declaration isn’t official policy of any country anywhere or at any time. It was a statement of intent written by a small group of people who acted without sanction of any governing body. The US didn’t exist for more than a decade after that. I mean, since we’re being all history-y here.”
(Sept. 4, 2008, The Edge of the American West)
holiday-y
“Are you feeling all holiday-y now? All the special Chrisma-hanau-kwanza-kah feeling that’s in the air, and also on Starbucks’s annoying playlist is already starting to grate on my nerves.”
(Dec. 3, 2008, Food in Mouth)
jealousy-y
“maaan, i need to see this movie. and i’m gonna be all jealousy-y when claira gets it for Christmas. hahaa”
(Dec. 6, 2008, Livejournal)
killjoy-y
“After fueling all kinds of fun ‘What if X bought Moto?’ mashups with rumors they were fleeing the handset business like a burning building, Motorola gets all killjoy-y today, affirming that they’re ‘fully committed’ to the mobile biz. Hey, there have been bigger turnarounds.”
(Feb. 11, 2008, Matt Buchanan, Gizmodo)
lady-y
“My parents are awesome. My Dad’s all nature-y and work-y and my Mum’s all lady-y and they’re both daft and then I am a super combo of their awesome points (and then their tempers >__>;; ) and then yesssss. I win.”
(March 28, 2009, Ultimate Guitar Community)
memory-y
“And now I’m all memory-y thinking about ice-skating at the rink right around the corner from that theater when I was growing up.”
(Nov. 13, 2006, Whedonesque)
mystery-y-ish-y
“My faith tells me that marital sex, like all acts blessed with holiness, is a great mystery — and from thence comes its beauty.
Well, it WOULD be wouldn’t it? Since Dawn’s not married, she can’t be having marital sex. It’s all mystery-y-ish-y. And she can imagine it’s pretty, if she wants.”
(May 23, 2006, Pandagon)
philosophy-y
“I’m sorry to get all philosophy-y here, but I think these supposedly philosophical questions matter an awful lot to the politics at stake here.”
(May 24, 2008, Pandagon)
secret identity-y
“And don’t be all sneaky when you come in. Y’know … all secret identity-y, and then come back on here and post about how dumb I am and stuff. ‘Cause that would be just plain mean.”
(Dec. 15, 2006, Comic Books Resources Forums)
secret society-y
“I love it when they get all secret society-y”
(April 19, 2003, Livejournal)
soy-y
“i’ve just made my latest incredible discovery - boysenberry soy yoghurt, or as i like to call it, ’soyghurt’. it doesn’t upset my lactose-unfriendly stomach and doesn’t taste all soy-y and is creamy and filled with delicious boysenberries and 99% fat free! and it was on special at coles barkly square! brilliant!”
(Jan. 17, 2006, from the irish meaning ‘ditch/canal builder’)
spy-y
“It was all spy-y and computery. The poor man’s Tom Clancy, I guess.”
(May 16, 2007, The Sheila Variation)
technology-y
“They are orange! They are cute! They are all technology-y and stuff! They feel like nothing I’ve ever worn before, and they feel goooood!! I’m very psyched. They even come with a DVD to teach me how to wear them, they are so advanced!”
(Feb. 24, 2007, Asparagus and Mayonnaise)
By: Kirsty,
on 4/15/2009
Owen Davies, professor of social history at the University of Hertfordshire, has written extensively about the history of magic, witchcraft and ghosts. His most recent book, Grimoires: A History of Magic Books, is a history of magic books that takes us from ancient Eygpt, through Kabbalah, Scandinavian witchcraft, 19th-century Egyptology, West African folk religion, a Chicago mail-order charlatan whose books are still banned in Jamaica today, and - of course - Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In the post below, which originally appeared on The Guardian’s website, Owen Davies chooses his top 10 grimoires.
“Grimoires are books that contain a mix of spells, conjurations, natural secrets and ancient wisdom. Their origins date back to the dawn of writing and their subsequent history is entwined with that of the religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, the development of science, the cultural influence of print, and the social impact of European colonialism.”
1. The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses
Although one of the more recent grimoires, first circulating in manuscript in the 18th century, this has to be number one for the breadth of its influence. From Germany it spread to America via the Pennsylvania Dutch, and once in cheap print was subsequently adopted by African Americans. With its pseudo-Hebraic mystical symbols, spirit conjurations and psalms, this book of the secret wisdom of Moses was a founding text of Rastafarianism and various religious movements in west Africa, as well as a cause célèbre in post-war Germany.
2. The Clavicule of Solomon
This is the granddaddy of grimoires. Mystical books purporting to be written by King Solomon were already circulating in the eastern Mediterranean during the first few centuries AD. By the 15th century hundreds of copies were in the hands of Western scientists and clergymen. While some denounced these Solomonic texts as heretical, many clergymen secretly pored over them. Some had lofty ambitions to obtain wisdom from the “wisest of the wise”, while others sought to enrich themselves by discovering treasures and vanquishing the spirits that guarded them.
3. Petit Albert
The “Little Albert” symbolises the huge cultural impact of the cheap print revolution of the early 18th century. The flood gates of magical knowledge were opened during the so-called Enlightenment and the Petit Albert became a name to conjure with across France and its overseas colonies. As well as practical household tips it included spells to catch fish, charms for healing, and instructions on how to make a Hand of Glory, which would render one invisible.
4. The Book of St Cyprian
Grimoires purporting to have been written by a legendary St Cyprian (there was a real St Cyprian as well) became popular in Scandinavia during the late 18th century, while in Spain and Portugal print editions of the Libro de San Cipriano included a gazetteer to treasure sites and the magical means to obtain their hidden riches. During the early 20th century, editions began to appear in South America, and copies can now be purchased from the streets of Mexico City to herbalist stalls high in the Andes.
5. Dragon rouge
Like the Petit Albert, the Red Dragon was another product of the French cheap grimoire boom of the 18th century. Although first published in the following century, it was basically a version of the Grand grimoire, an earlier magic book which was infamous for including an invocation of the Devil and his lieutenants. The Dragon rouge circulated far more widely though, and is well known today in former and current French colonies in the Caribbean.
6. The Book of Honorius
Books attributed to Honorius of Thebes were second only to those of Solomon in notoriety in the medieval period. In keeping with a strong theme in grimoire history, there is no evidence that an arch magician named Honorius lived in antiquity - as manuscripts ascribed to him stated. Through prayers and invocations, books of Honorius gave instructions on how to receive visions of God, Hell and purgatory, and knowledge of all science. Very handy.
7. The Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy
Cornelius Agrippa was one of the most influential occult philosophers of the 16th century. He certainly wrote three books on the occult sciences, but he had nothing to do with the Fourth Book which appeared shortly after his death. This book of spirit conjuration blackened the name of Agrippa at a time when the witch trials were being stoked across Europe.
8. The Magus
Published in 1801 and written by the British occultist and disaster-prone balloonist Francis Barrett, The Magus was a re-statement of 17th-century occult science, and borrowed heavily from an English edition of the Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy. It was a flop at the time but its influence was subsequently considerable on the occult revival of the late 19th century and contemporary magical traditions. In the early 20th century a plagiarised version produced by an American occult entrepreneur and entitled The Great Book of Magical Art, Hindu Magic and East Indian Occultism became much sought after in the US and the Caribbean.
9. The Necronomicon
A figment of the ingenious imagination of the influential early 20th-century writer of horror and fantasy HP Lovecraft, this mysterious book of secret wisdom was penned in the eighth century by a mad Yemeni poet. Despite being a literary fiction, several “real” Necronomicons have been published over the decades, and today it has as much a right to be considered a grimoire as the other entries in this Top 10.
10. Book of Shadows
Last but not least there is the founding text of modern Wicca – a pagan religion founded in the 1940s by the retired civil servant, folklorist, freemason and occultist Gerald Gardner. He claimed to have received a copy of this “ancient” magical text from a secret coven of witches, one of the last of a line of worshippers of an ancient fertility religion, which he and his followers believed had survived centuries of persecution by Christian authorities. Through its mention in such popular occult television dramas as Charmed, it has achieved considerable cultural recognition.
EVERNIGHT, by Claudia Gray (the pen name, evidently, of someone named Amy Vincent), was highly disappointing.
For starters, it opened with exactly the kind of prologue I find most off-putting, namely, one that seems to exist only because otherwise the first several chapters will be too boring, so the author wants to assure us that something suspenseful is going to happen later on. The problem? I don’t usually feel any suspense during action sequences unless I’m already invested in the characters, which, almost by definition, I’m not by the time of a prologue. I gathered from EVERNIGHT’s prologue that someone would wind up in some danger and feeling some guilty anguish, but nothing made me really care.
But I’d heard good things, so on I went to the actual book. Throughout the early chapters, I kept trying to like it, and almost managing. I thought the premise — a school for vampires suddenly opens itself to human students — had definite potential. Character-wise, Gray did something I really liked:
It’s funny–when people call you “shy,” they usually smile. Like it’s cute, some funny little habit you’ll grow out of when you’re older, like the gaps in your grin when your baby teeth fall out. If they knew how it felt–really being shy, not just unsure at first–they wouldn’t smile. Not if they knew how the feeling knots up your stomach or makes your palms sweat or robs you of the ability to say anything that makes sense. It’s not cute at all.
–but then undermined it by never having her character actually think or act like a shy person, just telling us a lot of times that she was. I felt like I would’ve wanted to read the book Gray told us she was writing.
On a sentence level, EVERNIGHT vacillated between incredibly pedestrian, generic prose and the sort of quintessentially young adult cadence I really like, where really long and really short clauses mix together; you can see all of this in this short paragraph from early on:
Until that moment, I hadn’t known what fear was. Shock jolted through me, cold as ice water, and I found out just how fast I could really run. I didn’t scream–there was no point, none, because I’d gone off into the woods so nobody could find me, which was the dumbest thing I’d ever done and looked like it would be the last. [...] I had to run like hell.
There was also a lot of sloppiness on little details (like, no one in high school is old enough to drink legally!), which was distracting, but I dutifully moved along in the book, waiting for the plot to develop. And then it did, and I was sorry.
(Vague but important spoilers below.)
The entire first half of the book is playing an absurd trick on the reader, which is then revealed. It’s a trick in the tradition of Agatha Christie’s THE MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD, which I thought was very clever when I read it as an eleven-year-old; it here has the effect of just undoing any investment I had in the character I thought I was reading about. Seriously, there was absolutely no reason to have kept the crucial information from readers except for the author to revel in how “clever” the trick was, except it… really wasn’t. EVERNIGHT is trying to be “Enemies” from Season 3 of BUFFY, and ending up more in the territory of “And it was all a dream!”
And speaking of gratuitous choices, here’s my fan letter to the author:
Dear Claudia Gray,
Please don’t spoil Hitchcock movies I haven’t seen since I was a small child and don’t remember the big plot twists in, just so you can have the characters discuss them to establish that they both like old movies. Thank you,
Love,
Elizabeth
As blog readers will know, though, I can overlook a lot when I really get into a teen romance. Which is why the final straw for me was that the protagonist and her love interest are the most codependent creeps since Meyer set the trend in this genre. Seriously, our heroine Bianca goes on, and on, and on about how much the sniveling hero Lucas just wants to protect her. If I could’ve believed in these characters and their allegedly undying love for one another, I would’ve been really frightened for them.
My last complaint, I swear: EVERNIGHT flagrantly violates the Chekov Rule (”If there’s a gun in the first act…”) with the most blatantly dropped plot point this side of BUFFY’s seventh season. (And by that, I do mean every damn week of season 7, but that’s no excuse; if it was real bad when Joss did it, it’s certainly no good when this lady follows suit.) It’s possible this is just setup for some sequel, but I’m sure as hell not reading any more to find out.
TWILIGHT, VAMPIRE ACADEMY, now this… Why can’t I find a damn vampire romance that’s any good? In book form, that is.
Posted in Evernight, Flawed, however, can indeed coincide with uninteresting, Gray, Claudia, I learned it from Joss Whedon, Mead, Richelle, Meyer, Stephenie, Twilight series, Vampire Academy series
…that is 800 million times more original, creepy, and moving than TWILIGHT, rent LET THE RIGHT ONE IN.
But oh my god, it scared the crap out of me.
Best scene, according to me: a discussion about what “going steady” means, held between two twelve-year-olds. One of them is a vampire who is rather covered with blood during this conversation, but the conversation is played straight teen angst and joy. Best part: the characters are totally believable, but there’s such a mismatch between the content of their words (going steady doesn’t mean anything) and the emotions that come along (one of them, in particular, in disbelieving ecstasy at the decision to do it). It’s an in-character incongruity, and it’s awesome.
Best scene, according to my boyfriend: Let’s just say it involved body parts. And not in a “now they’re trying to make you think about sex” way, in a “oh my god, all these people are going to die” way. He called it HEATHERS-esque.
Also: watching this movie really makes me realize how BUFFY/ANGEL’s occasional little glamorous tricklets of blood do not do justice to what would be gushing around and messing up everyone’s clothes and faces if there were real vampiric consumption taking place.
Also also: I liked the way the movie gives its own take on some of the vampire canon while making it a genuinely cool scene, instead of a belabored “Now we’re going to explain why vampires can’t do X.” Well done. (You know, I hope this post makes any sense since I am trying so hard not to ruin anything. Spoiler-free is the way to be!)
Posted in I learned it from Joss Whedon, Meyer, Stephenie, Twilight series
By: Alice Pope,
on 2/9/2009
Stephen King on Rowling and Meyer...
In case you haven't heard (or read), our pal Stephen King has been flapping his gums with USA Weekend and recently had this to say about J.K. Rowling and Stephenie Meyer:
"Both Rowling and Meyer, they’re speaking directly to young people. ... The real difference is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer and Stephenie Meyer can’t write worth a darn. She’s not very good."King went on to talk about other terribly successful terrible writers, as well as a few he admires.
By: Gina MarySol Ruiz,
on 5/22/2008
I so want the Tarot deck!!
Press release from Dark Horse Comics:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Mystical Parlor Games
MILWAUKIE, OR—Twentieth Century Fox Licensing and Merchandising and Dark Horse Comics are proud to present two magical products that are sure to provide hours of sleepless slumber parties this fall. Joss Whedon's mythology comes alive with the official Buffy the Vampire Slayer Tarot Deck and the Buffy the Vampire Slayer “Conversations with Dead People” Board!
Since 1986, Dark Horse Comics has proven to be a solid example of how integrity and innovation can help broaden a unique storytelling medium and establish a small, homegrown company as an industry giant. In addition to publishing comics from top talent like Frank Miller, Mike Mignola, Neil Gaiman, and comics legend Will Eisner, their highly successful line of comics and products based on popular properties includes Star Wars, Aliens, Conan, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Emily the Strange, Tim Burton, Trigun, and The Incredibles. Today Dark Horse Comics is the third-largest comic-book publisher in the U.S. and is recognized as the world's leading publisher of licensed comics material.
By: Rita,
on 1/18/2008
Short post this week. This is cool:
Why We Write: A Series of Essays
http://whywewriteseries.wordpress.com/
By: Yours Truly,
on 1/5/2008
Hello, dearest readers. What follows is an interview with Libba Bray, author of the Gemma Doyle Trilogy. (The third book, The Sweet Far Thing, recently came out. You can see our review of it if you scroll down.) We asked her 13 questions, because 13 is a most excellent number. So, read on, the Dark Lord commands thee! (Warning: VERY LONG POST.)
Zombies, all the way. Unicorns would only exist so that zombies could feast upon their flesh and fashion their horns into mod zombie breast plates.
By: Rita,
on 6/29/2007
You know, I don't want to taunt you. And I don't want to give the good parts away.
But I don't want to downplay the awesomeness of what's just happened, either.
I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.
Oh my God, Oh my God!
"Alive!!"
"Bunnies!! Bunnies! It must be bunnies!!!"
"[Hea-ven].../ I think I was in [Hea-ven]..."
"GRR! ARRGH!!"
Marti Noxon!!!!
"But I shouldn't be telling you this . . . "
JOSS WHEDON!!!!
Love and the Universe,
rita
R.I.P.
Ka-BLOOM!!!!
Other sites are reporting the new Buffy book is actually going to be an OGN, not an ongoing series.
Was Scott Allie there? Did anyone get bitten?