you're probably just alright, but under these lights you look beautiful
All my free time in the past few days have been spent revamping my journal. I filled up most of my new icon spaces (then I tabulated how many icons I had for each fandom, character and 'ship, so I could assess which were over- or under-represented in relation to the actual amount of fannish love I have for them, and then rectify the situation with my remaining spaces, that's not weird is it?) and redid my layout, which looks deceptively minimalist because it actually took a really long time. I'm quite pleased with the result though, it makes me look like I actually know how to do stuff when I'm totally faking it. Not sure how long I'll keep it like this, since I pretty much just chose that picture 'cause it was the only good screencap on my computer and I was too lazy and indecisive and uninspired to find and choose anything different from my long list of aformentioned fandom loves. The words are just the first songs that came up on my playlist that were remotely appropriate (they're from Metric). I do adore that scene in PoA though, which singlehandedly inspired and cemented my love for Harry/Ron/Hermione. OT3! (Mostly just for that scene though.)
Musical obsession of the moment: Arctic Monkeys, who are ridiculously overhyped in the UK right now, but actually deserving of that hype... okay, almost. Guh, British music is so good right now. And very good for distracting me from the possibly most depressing January ever. It rained, like, 27 days straight. I've seen the sun a total of two times since I've been back. But back to the guh-worthy music. The lineup for this year's Coachella Festival was announced this week. So good. ::whimpers:: I really, really want to go, but I have no money and no one to go with, alas.
I'm watching the last 2 discs of Buffy S6 right now, which I got from the library, because I never got around to buying that season, and now that I'm totally in debt I probably won't be for a while. Most of these episodes I haven't watched since they aired, with the exception of some of the Spuffy scenes, because OMG angst!andpain! So it should be interesting.
- I always hated how they had Xander leave Anya at the altar, and then at the very beginning of the next very episode they have him come back with a big speech about how badly he messed up and how much he loves her. To have him bounce back right away, and with so much conviction, completely undermines or cheapens everything he said and felt in "Hell's Bells", which was totally legitimate, if not well-planned. I don't think he should have gotten married if he wasn't ready, which he clearly wasn't, but we never get to see his realization or acceptance of what his decision (or his prior indecision) has cost him - we're just supposed to feel sorry for him 'cause he's lost the girl. That is, they make it out to be about a momentary panic and lapse of judgement, rather than about his insecurity and immaturity. Which, frankly, makes him look like an emotional retard. And not hugely sympathetic when he's being bitchy to Spike nor when Anya gets back.
- I also think, though, that I have a harder time understanding or sympathizing with the whole wedding fiasco because I can't quite believe Xander and Anya as actual 21-year-olds (not that Anya is really 21, but still). They really don't look that age, which is a major but unavoidable thing, but also they don't act it either the rest of the time (which I think has more to do with the writing and the fact that they pushed the whole cast into "twenty-something" territory when the characters are still very young). It always seemed like Xander and Anya aged about ten years between getting engaged in "The Gift" and all the wedding planning in S6.
- "Normal Again" is one of the most underrated episodes ever, I think. It's just brilliant on so many levels, because the asylum world allows a metacommentary on the series itself and the supposedly sub-parness of the season ("three pathetic little men"), but at the same time it makes so much sense, it's so convincing a reason or explanation for Buffy about why her Sunnydale life is falling apart so badly (she created a sister to fulfill a need for family; her imaginary friends aren't conforting anymore). The idea that she was lucid in the asylum the summer she was dead in Sunnydale, before being pulled back in by her friends, is brilliant. Because by that logic, it would really be her who actually brought herself back to a miserable life and subsequently blamed her friends for it, which would fit in with Spike's accusation up in her room that she's addicted to pain, and give her a perfect reason to get out of that world. I love that both scenarios seem equally plausible, and I love that at some points I'm almost actually rooting for Asylum!Buffy. Because she is so extremely depressed and out of control that at this point the chance to escape that, even temporarily, is incredibly tempting. And it really doesn't hurt that her old family is there too. Oh, and the final scene is, gah, heartbreaking. It's almost good enough to make me forget the massive and hugely inconsistent retcon they performed in Buffy's having been sent to an asylum before. Perhaps "rationalize what you can, and forget what you can't" is a good policy here.
- Hey, that was fun. I haven't talked Buffy in a looong time. (Okay, I haven't talked about anything in a long time, but still.)
Musical obsession of the moment: Arctic Monkeys, who are ridiculously overhyped in the UK right now, but actually deserving of that hype... okay, almost. Guh, British music is so good right now. And very good for distracting me from the possibly most depressing January ever. It rained, like, 27 days straight. I've seen the sun a total of two times since I've been back. But back to the guh-worthy music. The lineup for this year's Coachella Festival was announced this week. So good. ::whimpers:: I really, really want to go, but I have no money and no one to go with, alas.
I'm watching the last 2 discs of Buffy S6 right now, which I got from the library, because I never got around to buying that season, and now that I'm totally in debt I probably won't be for a while. Most of these episodes I haven't watched since they aired, with the exception of some of the Spuffy scenes, because OMG angst!andpain! So it should be interesting.
- I always hated how they had Xander leave Anya at the altar, and then at the very beginning of the next very episode they have him come back with a big speech about how badly he messed up and how much he loves her. To have him bounce back right away, and with so much conviction, completely undermines or cheapens everything he said and felt in "Hell's Bells", which was totally legitimate, if not well-planned. I don't think he should have gotten married if he wasn't ready, which he clearly wasn't, but we never get to see his realization or acceptance of what his decision (or his prior indecision) has cost him - we're just supposed to feel sorry for him 'cause he's lost the girl. That is, they make it out to be about a momentary panic and lapse of judgement, rather than about his insecurity and immaturity. Which, frankly, makes him look like an emotional retard. And not hugely sympathetic when he's being bitchy to Spike nor when Anya gets back.
- I also think, though, that I have a harder time understanding or sympathizing with the whole wedding fiasco because I can't quite believe Xander and Anya as actual 21-year-olds (not that Anya is really 21, but still). They really don't look that age, which is a major but unavoidable thing, but also they don't act it either the rest of the time (which I think has more to do with the writing and the fact that they pushed the whole cast into "twenty-something" territory when the characters are still very young). It always seemed like Xander and Anya aged about ten years between getting engaged in "The Gift" and all the wedding planning in S6.
- "Normal Again" is one of the most underrated episodes ever, I think. It's just brilliant on so many levels, because the asylum world allows a metacommentary on the series itself and the supposedly sub-parness of the season ("three pathetic little men"), but at the same time it makes so much sense, it's so convincing a reason or explanation for Buffy about why her Sunnydale life is falling apart so badly (she created a sister to fulfill a need for family; her imaginary friends aren't conforting anymore). The idea that she was lucid in the asylum the summer she was dead in Sunnydale, before being pulled back in by her friends, is brilliant. Because by that logic, it would really be her who actually brought herself back to a miserable life and subsequently blamed her friends for it, which would fit in with Spike's accusation up in her room that she's addicted to pain, and give her a perfect reason to get out of that world. I love that both scenarios seem equally plausible, and I love that at some points I'm almost actually rooting for Asylum!Buffy. Because she is so extremely depressed and out of control that at this point the chance to escape that, even temporarily, is incredibly tempting. And it really doesn't hurt that her old family is there too. Oh, and the final scene is, gah, heartbreaking. It's almost good enough to make me forget the massive and hugely inconsistent retcon they performed in Buffy's having been sent to an asylum before. Perhaps "rationalize what you can, and forget what you can't" is a good policy here.
- Hey, that was fun. I haven't talked Buffy in a looong time. (Okay, I haven't talked about anything in a long time, but still.)