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Yeah, I tend to agree. I'm going to rant about this very soon, so stay tuned. I liked the banter when everyone keeps coming in, but it did tend to make everything a joke. That's probably not the intent, but that's kind of the way it read. Although, using the word "shocker" in your title makes me think Buffy or Satsu was using the shocker. Now that's something they should put in the book!

Buffy should have been wearing one of these t-shirts then...

http://www.cafepress.com/rockhershocker

I think turning the scene into bedroom farce worked- it sort of diluted the "shock" element for me.

I think this is something Whedon does a lot, and does well. He tends to take scenes that normally should be "shockers" and play them entirely for comedy. In most books, something like this would be played as something shocking and people would be wondering what is going on with Buffy, is she gay, etc. Whedon plays it as total farce having everyone come tumbling into the room I think to take away some of the standard questions that are supposed to come up. I'm sure all the standard questions will eventually come up (and maybe even be answered, but now he can put it off for a while and make it a more natural part of the story.

This just seemed so off. I thought I read in Wizard recently that Joss wanted to make Xander gay as well. I never liked Willow being gay either. It seemed too stereotypical. I know I probably come across as a homophobe but the characters seem off to me.

Maybe Buffy and Willow will finally do the deed!

I had this on Wednesday, known about the "shocker" since at least Wednesday, and finally read it tonight, and...

The reveal was a page too long, but otherwise not offensive, for a fictional situation. It would have had much more impact if Willow had appeared that page sooner, and the awkwardness cut that much shorter. I know only one person who has "experimented" in the real world, but I trust them enough to believe it was more than just a momentary lapse of reason.

That said, the hype has been purely based on the shock value of this issue. I only started collecting Buffy around the "special mental health" issue addressed in a previous Snark Blocker turned bad. The story has confirmed that I would have enjoyed the TV series to begin with, but I could drop both without missing a major cultural phenom.

I think it'd be just as funny if Buffy was in bed with Xander or Andrew and everyone freaked out. But I can see what you're saying.

I'm clearly out of the loop, because I didn't know anything about this even though I read the book. I just hadn't gotten to this issue until today.

And actually, I'm glad that I could just read it without people freaking out with "OMG LESBIAN SLAYR!111ONE" There's something to be said for ignoring the hype and just taking things on their own merits.

I'm hoping that Whedon uses this whole thing as an excuse to point out that just because someone has a homosexual experience that doesn't automatically make them homosexual.There is an extreme lack of bisexuals in "serious" media. It always bugged me when Willow turned completely gay without barely a moments doubt, but I understood why they would do it that way, as it was a bit of a breakthrough for mainstream TV at the time. My feeling is that Buffy is what my friends call a college lesbian. She's had a bad time with men and wants to see her options. College lesbians sometimes turn out to be legitimately bisexual,rarely are they actually lesbians. Often they seldom have same sex experiences again.Hopefully the Buffy creators know where they going with this and it's not just a publicity stunt.

"I’m hoping that Whedon uses this whole thing as an excuse to point out that just because someone has a homosexual experience that doesn’t automatically make them homosexual."

This is exactly how I read it. Also as an excuse for naked females, true...

This is the best gift Whedon has given the slashfic community since Buffy went down on Spike.