rionaleonhart: the mentalist: lisbon, with time counting down, makes an important call. (it's been an honour)
Riona ([personal profile] rionaleonhart) wrote2019-02-27 04:24 pm

That's Not The Kind Of Thing You Just Forgive.

More notes on the second season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer!


'Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered':

DON'T GET INVOLVED IN LOVE SPELLS, XANDER
DON'T GET INVOLVED IN LOVE SPELLS, XANDER
YOU NEVER LISTEN TO ME, XANDER

I love Giles trying to make coaxing-a-rat noises.

I really like Oz. He's so chill. So entirely devoid of awkwardness when Buffy changes back from being a rat to find herself nude; he just goes 'sure, I'll find you some clothes.'

I also like Cordelia a lot, actually. She's self-absorbed and image-conscious, but she's fun, and her heart's... well, it's not necessarily in the right place, but it's at least in the general vicinity of her chest. I felt so bad for her in this episode.

After the opening scene where Amy tricks the teacher into thinking she's handed in her work, I thought this would be a standard 'oh, no, we have to stop the witch' episode. I wasn't expecting it to end up at 'everyone's wildly in love with Xander; meanwhile, Buffy narrowly avoids being eaten by a cat'.


'Passion':

I've been thinking this for a while, but Buffy/Angel was probably a formative pairing for Stephanie Meyer. Angel is absolutely Edward Cullen and it's hilarious.

Willow and Giles having an awkward conversation about Buffy and Angel having sex was pretty incredible. Scenes in which Willow is alone with anyone other than Buffy or Xander are generally fantastically awkward. I enjoyed the scene where Angel visits her bedroom in 'Lie to Me' as well.

I loved Giles going 'er, perhaps I should intervene on Buffy's behalf with her mother?' when he realises Buffy's in trouble for sleeping with Angel, and I'm disappointed we didn't get the well-meaning awkwardness of him actually trying to help.

Joyce: I guess that was 'the talk'.
Buffy: So how'd it go?
Joyce: I don't know. It was my first.

Joyce, your daughter is seventeen and you should probably have had the talk with her earlier.

I'm looking forward to Angel presumably getting his soul back and feeling absolutely horrible.

'Passion' was the first episode that genuinely surprised me. Buffy has a disadvantage when it comes to surprising me, because I've already been spoiled for all the major developments! Or so I thought!

I was very distressed during the date scene. I love fictional suffering, but for some reason I absolutely did not want this suffering.

'Poor Giles,' Xander said to himself, and somehow just those two words raised him greatly in my esteem. (I don't hate Xander, but he frustrates me. Still, apparently I'll give anyone points for caring about Giles!)

The 'I've got everything under control.' (MOLOTOV COCKTAIL) moment was great.

I am so here for Buffy punching Giles in the face and then hugging him and crying.


I sort of want Rupert Giles and Sazh Katzroy to meet and commiserate over accidentally adopting a bunch of ridiculous kids.
ruuger: (Big Damn Hero)

[personal profile] ruuger 2019-02-27 05:22 pm (UTC)(link)
I have a vague memory of having read that Twilight was originally a Buffy/Angel fic with the serial numbers filed off.
wolfy_writing: (Default)

[personal profile] wolfy_writing 2019-02-27 05:43 pm (UTC)(link)
I know Fifty Shades of Grey was originally Twilight fanfic.
ruuger: My hand with the nails painted red and black resting on the keyboard of my laptop (Default)

[personal profile] ruuger 2019-02-28 01:19 pm (UTC)(link)
IIRC, someone on Fandom Wank, I think, tracked down the name that Meyer had been using in Buffy fandom and found some of her old fic on some Angelfire archive or something similar, and one of those fics was basically a shorter Buffyverse version of Twilight. So it's not something that she's ever mentioned officially. If it's true, it makes 50 Shades even funnier because it's based on a fic from a canon based on a fic :D

(I wonder if anyone's yet published 50 Shades fic as original work :D)
wolfy_writing: (Default)

[personal profile] wolfy_writing 2019-02-27 05:43 pm (UTC)(link)
I've been thinking this for a while, but Buffy/Angel was probably a formative pairing for Stephanie Meyer. Angel is absolutely Edward Cullen and it's hilarious.

You're right! (I think I was slow to warm up to Angel because I'm very easily put off by "Teenage girl/powerful supernatural boyfriend". Conversely, I tended to be warmer towards Xander because I am cheap for "You may feel unimpressive, but you're ultimately capable of some cool things", even if it's aimed at a different gender.)

Joyce, your daughter is seventeen and you should probably have had the talk with her earlier.

I know!
wolfy_writing: (Default)

[personal profile] wolfy_writing 2019-02-28 01:37 pm (UTC)(link)
I totally get that

Everyone knows teen sex is caused by parents having the talk! That's why you wait until the day before their wedding!
owlmoose: (Default)

[personal profile] owlmoose 2019-02-27 06:47 pm (UTC)(link)
I never thought of Giles and Sazh having things in common before but you are totally correct.
trepkos: (Default)

[personal profile] trepkos 2019-02-27 11:03 pm (UTC)(link)
loved Giles going 'er, perhaps I should intervene on Buffy's behalf with her mother?'

Yes! "You must realise, Mrs Summers, Angel is a very attractive ... not that I'm attracted to him ... And in her line of work, Buffy does have a lot of stress she has to release, and limited opportunities to meet suitable err ..." Only it would be better than that.
thenewbuzwuzz: converse on tree above ground (Default)

[personal profile] thenewbuzwuzz 2019-02-28 05:08 am (UTC)(link)
Hee! :)
thenewbuzwuzz: converse on tree above ground (Default)

[personal profile] thenewbuzwuzz 2019-02-28 05:08 am (UTC)(link)
"and her heart's... well, it's not necessarily in the right place, but it's at least in the general vicinity of her chest"
...fair!! :D
pict: (Default)

[personal profile] pict 2019-02-28 09:31 am (UTC)(link)
Apparently, Stephenie Meyer had never even heard of vampires before having the dream that inspired Twilight! I don’t know how that works either.

Joyce is a pretty bad mother 90% of the time, honestly, or at least a thoughtless one.
keltena: Kat linefacing with a pigeon on her head. ([gkc] feathers ruffled)

[personal profile] keltena 2019-03-01 08:09 pm (UTC)(link)
I also like Cordelia a lot, actually. She's self-absorbed and image-conscious, but she's fun, and her heart's... well, it's not necessarily in the right place, but it's at least in the general vicinity of her chest.

Aha, that's a perfect description of Cordelia. And agreed, she's great.

I've been thinking this for a while, but Buffy/Angel was probably a formative pairing for Stephanie Meyer. Angel is absolutely Edward Cullen and it's hilarious.

"This is the skin of a killer" is unquestionably a line Angel would say in dead seriousness if he lived in a universe where vampires sparkled. (Or at the very least, it's a line Spike would say while doing a mocking Angel impression.)

Scenes in which Willow is alone with anyone other than Buffy or Xander are generally fantastically awkward. I enjoyed the scene where Angel visits her bedroom in 'Lie to Me' as well.

You know, that's a very true observation, and one I hadn't put into words before now. (I read this and immediately a specific future scene popped into my mind, in fact.)

Passion is one of the big gutpunches of the series, and yet you really never seem to hear the spoilers for it passed around. (I was completely blindsided by it too. You can't do that!!)

'Poor Giles,' Xander said to himself, and somehow just those two words raised him greatly in my esteem. (I don't hate Xander, but he frustrates me. Still, apparently I'll give anyone points for caring about Giles!)

Xander's always frustrated me too in that I actually like some aspects of his character/moments he gets a lot, but most of the bits where he's a sexist dick have such a "that's just being a normal, relatable teenage boy, right?" tone to them that it puts me off the whole character to a fair extent.