pointy-chinned girlie men / e-mail and comments / Angel / Sandman

[oiran]

So, I'm finally downloading all of the Yami no Matsuei vids from my streamload account, and I am missing (as I knew I was) episode #11. I have put off watching this, as I get the impression that I'm really going to like it, and I didn't want to get all embroiled in something new when I have so many old somethings still waiting for my attention. But, what the hell. If I'm going to have a muddled, overtaxed head anyway, I might as well do it on a grand scale.

Does anyone have episode #11 to share? According to the labeling on the eps I've got, this is part of the Kyoto arc. And are there more than thirteen episodes? I have 1-10, then 12 and 13.

You know, at one point, I told rhiannonhero that I really didn't understand the anime fandoms, and I still don't know that I understand the fandoms, per se, but I'm reading a little too much manga to pretend I'm above it all at this point.

Also, I am downloading what is apparently the entire run of Weiss Kreuz. I didn't check the file size and thought I was downloading, like, an episode, but so far I've got 2+ G downloaded of a 4+ G file...it's actually cooking along at quite a rapid pace, but since it's 4G, it's taking a few days. I'm attracted to this because 1) tynantblue0162 likes it, and she hasn't been wrong about shows yet, 2) hey, it's got pointy-chinned girlie-men!, and 3) they're florists. In case you haven't read one of my many exciting mentions of my upper-level schooling, such as it was, I decided to train as a florist a couple years back. I paid a lot of money to go to a lame school, spent nine months learning what I could have been told in a couple of bracingly direct weeks, and decided that I'd rather keep on loving flowers than make cheesetastic FTD arrangements for minimum wage. The notion that I might really like Weiss Kreuz and thus would have the chance to write porn with sexy FLORAL ARRANGEMENTS, even if they're only on the sidelines, gives me a happy, happy feeling.

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Just a guilt-ridden PSA: I am still formulating replies to e-mail, comments and feedback received on or about my days (daze?) in New York. And the days since.

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So Mr. Glove and I are watching Angel from the beginning now. We just started watching this past season, and basically had time enough to get completely hooked before it was snatched cruelly away. Watching S1, watching Doyle, and then watching Doyle die...gah! And then Wesley shows up and is all goofy comic-relief (the dancing! The terrible, terrible dancing!) and it made me cry because it changes so much, and in such a short time frame...

I'm not glad that Buffy is over, or that Angel is over, but I can't imagine how I'd cope had I watched the beginnings of these series in real time. Not only do I love butterfly's comments about both series, but her meta has a touch of stream-of-consciousness that really appeals to me. It's for posts like hers that I do wish I'd been part of the Buffy watchers all along.

Also, can anyone tell me why Doyle was axed so early? Was that something always planned, or did the actor have other things to do? Or was he just a schmuck? I really loved the character, and I loved the way he and Cordelia were becoming vulnerable for/to each other, and then...poof. Or, more like a sizzle, perhaps.

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Finished the first two trades, Preludes and Nocturnes and The Doll's House. I've got to say, this is possibly the ugliest art in any book I've ever purchased, but I'm glad I got past that and into the text. The stories are...so good. Especially in The Doll's House. So for the dozen or so people who encouraged me to just try...thank you ;).

I understand there's Sandman fic...is any of it good? If so, I want recs!

Comments

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

I read a quote about Glenn Quinn once... I can't remember the exact words, but it was something like -- he made everyone around him happy but couldn't ever manage the trick himself. I've seen drug abuse, and god -- the person I knew was much the same. She was so vibrant and just had this glow. She was gorgeous, even after you'd noticed the track marks on her arms. And she destroyed herself, because she was so incredibly unhappy. Drug abuse is often self-medication. She died in a closet from an overdose and wasn't found until after almost four days. That was my aunt.

It's a tragic and sadly not so uncommon story. Don't feel bad about being flippant. You didn't know the stories around his death, and you didn't say anything meant to be harmful to anyone. Thinking about Glenn and Doyle is sad for me regardless of context.

Doyle was such a great character. Losing him definitely warped and shifted the fabric of show -- made it darker. Doyle was many things, but he never was capable of breaking to the extent that Wesley did -- Doyle'd already had his dark moment of the soul and was on his way up. I'm very glad that his absence and his character have always been felt in the show. That they never forgot him.

And onto Buffy -- which pairings do you like? I'm generally a slasher by nature, but on BtVS, I've often adored the het couples (and, of course, my big OTP is the noncanon 'ship of Buffy and Xander).

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

I've been very surprised to find that I pretty much 'ship along canon lines in all the Joss shows. Even though I never liked Riley, I could see why Buffy did. I loved Willow with Oz, but I also loved how Tara's introduction as Willow's new partner took a long time, and the rest of the crew didn't just automatically care about and trust her. I'm still waiting on S6 and S7, though I have a pretty good idea about what will happen in the remaining episodes generally. I liked Buffy with Angel, but the ep between the two of them that affected me the most was the S1 Angel ep where they have the day together and Angel asks the Oracle to turn back time... I really do respond to the pairings much as though I'm witnessing the relationship changes and developments in the lives of real people, not fictional characters who can be forced into funny positions. The Buffyverse is one where I'm finding myself very content to see what "really" happens, and I don't want to fix things.

I simply don't see the slash between the male characters ever going beyond the stage of verbal jabs. While Angel and Spike get to be very much like an old married couple, they're not a sexually passionate old married couple, you know?

I am not opposed to the idea of Buffy/Faith, but I can't actually see Buffy going along with it ever. Faith - yes. Buffy - no. Drusilla/Faith intrigues me, but I don't feel like I've got enough knowledge of the 'verse to write it myself, though it's the only f/f pairing I can think of that seems like it might be fun to try.

The whole Spike/Xander thing is incomprehensible to me. That's what stone_princess tried to interest me in, and I know there are a ton of very accomplished and talented writers who are practically obsessed with the pairing...but I don't see it. Again, to me it's just snarking, not actual interest or passion.

Now, Buffy/Xander I could see, but I wouldn't want to put poor Xander through that. I liked Anya (and I know what happens, sort of, but please don't tell me any more!) and Xander together because she gave him an opportunity to be an authority, a leader, an expert. With Buffy, he was verging on being a worshipper, which might work for her...how did you see that relationship playing out?

[jack-pride.livejournal.com]

The whole Spike/Xander thing is incomprehensible to me. That's what stone_princess tried to interest me in, and I know there are a ton of very accomplished and talented writers who are practically obsessed with the pairing...but I don't see it.

As an obsessed S/X shipper, I've gotta say... I don't see it either. *g* The S/X slashy subtext on the show? Is practically non-existant. Really, I completely understand your reluctance; the pairing certainly lacks the onscreen eyefucks Clark and Lex seem to manage every. single. episode.

That said, I find that the characters - all canon aside - would fit really well together. I like to allow for a multitude of universes where the storylines permit S/X to find each other... while simultaneously enjoying Joss' canon universe where it's clear that it'll never happen. And, to be frank, I wouldn't *want* it to happen canonically, because I like my multitude of universes.

I'm starting to think that tv shows shouldn't give us relationships at *all*, just plenty of subtext. Because it never works out on the show how it should. *g*

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't really read too much BtVS fanfic, because the show satisfies many of my cravings.

The only pairings that worked for me, male-slash-wise have been Wes/Angel and Lindsey/Angel. And both of those are pretty unrequited, lust-wise.

And I totally agree re: Buffy/Faith. Faith wanted Buffy, but Buffy... I didn't ever see a sexual attraction to Faith.

And I don't get Spike/Xander at all, really. Doesn't work for me because they work off of different emotional scales.

re: B/X, it's... complicated. I know that the way I view their friendship is very different than how many people do -- I've seen hero worship with him, but he's not blind. He knows when she's screwed up and he's always willing to say so -- it's one of the things that pisses people off about him. He trusts her, believes in her, and follows her willingly. Unlike his relationship with Willow, he's not afraid to fight with Buffy because they have similar fighting methods -- they blow up and then it's okay again (Willow, on the other hand, sulks and holds grudges). Their fights would likely be spectacular, but once the fight was over, they'd be as solid as ever, as happened time and again in their friendship. Even during the fights, they're still loyal -- in the middle of one in Dead Man's Party, the second that danger crashes in, Xander has her back and Buffy trusts him to have it.

She is his hero, he's told us that himself. But I think he sees her on at least three levels -- hero, friend, and desirable woman.

My problem with his relationship with Anya is that I never really got the sense that he respected her as

re: Anya

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

My problem with his relationship with Anya is that I never really got the sense that he respected her as a person, not until the end of Season Six. And respect is a big issue with me -- it's why Angel/Lindsey breaks my heart (Angel has no respect for him).