The Animal Family*, BtVS, life lesson

[oiran]

Exciting day at the vet's office. My dog is officially fat! And I'm adopting a pair of "orphan" parakeets. Which means I'll be spamming you with photos of every single pet sooner rather than later. This will bring us up to five birds and proves I do have a maternal instinct, although it's not stimulated at all by my own species.

~~~

So we're watching S5 Buffy, and...fuck: more Riley. He's nice. He loves Buffy. He's stubborn and has a bit of a temper, but nothing relationship-damaging. He looks like Howdy Doody (with really nice arms), but that's not necessarily terrible. Still, I hate him. I feel bad about it, but I keep hoping he'll DIE, DIE, DIE. I know enough about the future of the show and upcoming relationships that I'm aware he will vacate the boyfriend position eventually, but it can't be soon enough for me. Riley is making me gleefully anticipate proof of the adage "nice guys finish last." Why does this character vex and annoy me so? Well, I do have some theories, but I'm resisting letting Riley take over my brain even temporarily. I resent his very existence. When Riley episodes were airing, did people mostly love or hate him? FWIW, Mr. Glove hates him, too.

~~~

Life lesson: Pride goeth before a fall. Sprinkle hubris on top. And impatience...aaaaand a little more. Ignore for awhile, then serve cold.

I am of the opinion that more things should "goeth," rather than just "go." It's jauntier, somehow.

~~~
*the title of a book by Randall Jarrell, which I read as a child and continue to hold onto as an example of perfection on a number of fronts

Comments

[jfc013.livejournal.com]

I who love Buffy beyond all reason HATED Riley like nobody's business. I don't know if it was the blondness (I tend to ick at blond guys) or the nasty character history, but even the actor makes my skin crawl!

[boniblithe.livejournal.com]

I think for many of us, Riley was the boyfriend we didn't appreciate until he was gone and we moved on to ... other things ... which made us appreciate Riley. But too late. Now we look back on him with fondness, as of the boy next door, but we don't want him to come back and be our boyfriend again. We just appreciate him for what he was, when he was.

I think, too, watching the DVDs is like cheating because you can mainline the seasons instead of feeling the pain spread out over 9 months like in real time LOL. So you don't have the same amount of time to love, hate, or otherwise feel for the characters and situations.

[isagel.livejournal.com]

Personally, I hated "Captain Cardboard" (Thank you, Spike, for that lovely moniker.) when the show was running. Boring, boring, boring, wholesome, boring. I couldn't help feeling that he was an extreme symptom of Buffy's denial of the darkness within herself, representing a normalcy she wasn't made to have. Spike, again, was right when he said she needed a little monster in her man, and I read Riley as an attempt on her part to pretend that wasn't so. The problem with that is of course that I suspect the show wanted Buffy's need for the bad and dangerous in her romantic partners to come across as something unhealthy - hence Riley as the normal, stable boyfriend who offers possibilities for healing - while I just found it fascinating and hot. Riley couldn't hold a candle to either Angel or Spike, and if the producers wanted him to come across as a viable alternative, they certainly went wrong somewhere along the way.

Also, I never understood the Angel/Riley slash. It's existence just leaves me baffled.

Buffy & Angel 4Eva!

[valentinemichel.livejournal.com]

Riley was too "normal." Even with his participation in The Initiative, he remained the anti-Angel. No edges. It's hard to make an audience *like* the solid citizen when you've primed it to root for the fringe dweller.

[pun.livejournal.com]

I do have a maternal instinct, although it's not stimulated at all by my own species.

Heh. I hear ya'. May I quote you?

[timian.livejournal.com]

It's not just you. Riley had all the personality of a boiled egg.

[calliope1975.livejournal.com]

Riley's one blah boring blonde boy.

My cat was put on the Atkins diet for being overweight! I have to buy special protein-rich food now. She's a chunk.

[wickedripeplum.livejournal.com]

Most people seemed to hate Riley with a firey passion or think he was just ok. He was so frat boy and it just hurt. I wanted to like him too, since I hated Buffy/Angel and Angel in general until he got his own show.

[stone-princess.livejournal.com]

The Animal Family was my favorite book for years and years. I should read it again.

"Potato-nose" is the only way Riley is refered to in my house.

[metal-dog5.livejournal.com]

I think most people were anti-Riley. I would have much preferred to see Willow and Riley hook up, as they had much better chemistry. But the writers were hell bent on making Willow gay.

Even Spike had better chemistry with Riley than Buffy did.

Then again, Spike has great chemistry with all sorts of inanimate objects ;D

[georgeh.livejournal.com]

I very much enjoyed The Initative part of Buffy -- it was totally unexpected for me. However, I didn't ever care much for Riley. Still, in my mind, Buffy/anyone was better than Buffy/Angel so I didn't hate Riley as much as I could have. He's not a bad fellow; he's just boring. Sure, it's what Buffy ought to have, but could you imagine if they'd stayed together? It would have been Buffy the Boring.

But they still make you ping a bit for him when he leaves.

Buffy/Spike is so much better.



I never saw any slash (or lesbianism) in Buffy. Not even when they started beating us over the head with Willow/Tara. I think Joss is the only person in the world capable of making me dislike a canon gay couple. I'll take Oz/Willow over Willow/anygirl ANYday.


Spike/Andrew has so much potential.

[tobyfan.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't say I *hated* Riley but I thought he was completely wrong for Buffy. And I sort of had (still do) a thing for Spike. And I never thought Spike and Buffy would get together. I really didn't, but I still wanted Riley out of the way. *G*