random

[salinea]

I've been iconing like crazy for the last 3 days. Strange mood, I suppose it's because I'm starting to begin to almost like the result I get >_> Anyway, except an icon post tomorrow !

And I got blamed ! I got blamed by generalblossom for starting to like Buffy/Spike ! Go Teresa ! You're right, S6 is awesome, and this ship is very amusing ^_~. I got blamed by stanayitnuh for a wonderful masturbationnary Tokyo Babylon fic *plug*goreadit*unplug*; and I might yet get blamed by ariss_tenoh for threesome involving Seishirou, Subaru and Kamui with Seishirou being Kamui's father -_-;; (well, Link didn't want that bunny, so...)

I feel so proud and Pod-esque. (and one person on my flist will understand what I mean there), I like getting blamed ^_^

Comments

Mine essay

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Subject: Questionning Art's place : Normal Again as a re-justification of the show

Watching Normal Again after having read the wonderfull essay "Once More with Joss" by Cynesthecia (sp ?) makes it all the more interresting. Not only is this episode full of metanarration, but it seems the authors use the occasion to question the validity of their work (by threatening to destroy it, both as a fictionnal reality, and both by making buffy almost kill its main characters). The writers, attentive to their audience, aknowledge some of the coherence flaws of the Season, and even let the characters complain about their evolution, seemingly answering the puppet master claim that he controlls them. (Various comments from Buffy, Spike and Xander on the realism of what happens to them)
So, what is ME saying to us ? Yes, our Big Bads are lame ? Yes, thinking Buffy is a super-heros is stupid ? And yes, there is no coherence whatsoever to this show, because None of This is Real and it's all a big delusion, a hoax, haha, ain't we clever !
Don't think so :)
Here's my theory :
We all know here that the basis for BtVS was to create a metaphorical vision of the difficulties teenagers encounters in their daily life, where High School is litterally the Hell(mouth) and where it's gonna be the end of the world of you can't go out tonight.
But time has passed, and the characters are no longer teenagers, don't go anymore to High School, and demons & vampires seem very harmless indeed compared to the crude reality of job, educating children and unidealised love.
Does that mean that the show has no more basis ? Does it mean that it is now unvalidated ?
There's been critisms indeed that the show is "loosing it", that it's no more the same anymore, and, far from comptuously making fun to their fan, ME is answering their plea with an ambiguous nod.
And what they saying holds to how to interpret Buffy's choice.
You can choose to think that one of this two realities is the real reality (the only real Buffy is really Buffy... )
Either you think the Asylum reality is The Reality, and you reject the Sunnydale-world for its inconsistancy and his fantasy, because vampires and demons are stupid, and Buffy doesn't look like a heros anyway and you're too grown up now for this stupidities and it's time to go back to real life(tm) and slaughter happily all the delusions of your imagination.
Either you think the Sunnydale reality is The one Reality, because that would just spoil the show and you have to keep your dreams alive so just let us denying and fanwanking any crumb of incoherence that threatens its core.
Offcourse, there's a third way.
I've been waiting (and still am) to OnM's reaction to the parallelism of the end of Normal Again and the end of Brazil. Brazil's ending is very controversed, some thinking it's ultimate despair, others that Sam's true freedom and only chance of escape is through his imagination.
I'm not sure for Brazil, but in Buffy's case, choosing to go back to Sunnydale can hardly be described as an escape. Which world is the hardest ? Going back to a world where Mum and Dad can care for her, where she has no Slayer duty and no Dawn responsability ? Or going back to the place where life itself is painful ? Hell, you could even say she chose Sunnydale because she truely is addicted to misery !
Except that what makes Buffy choose is Joyce's speech on her inner strength that finished with "Believe in yourself"
And that's our answer, because here the question is (as is for Brazil, I guess), what worth is imagination ? In a world of dull jobs and endless routines, should we be allowed to dream ?
Was I the only one to be chocked, not only because I could guess what it meant, by the doctor's extreme directions to Buffy when he told her she must do everything, absolutly everything to destroy this inner world of her ?

Re: Mine essay 2/2

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Someone has mentionned how much the asylum was alike the Initiative basement, and indeed, they are alike in what they ask of people. They want to impose their reality, described as the only normalicy to Buffy, and no place is made for dreams, questions or imagination. Those must be destroyed, killed, murdured so as to fit in. How violent what they ask of Buffy is ! Killing the part of her mind that loves herself, destroying her basement, ie her own subconcious.
I don't think ME (and I don't either) wants to make the apology of self-delusion. But since we know that the Sunnydale reality is only a metaphore for the "real" reality, that demons are symboles for the difficulties of life we have to always fight, and that Buffy the girl and Buffy the Slayer are one and only (cf the Replacement), dull reality and imaginary reality do not have to be mutually exclusives. Actually, aseptisized and all rationnal reality is just as self-delusionnal as the metaphorical reality. Real world is much much richer. And believe in yourself means believe in your imaginary, believe in your dreams because they help you live in reality. And no, it's not because it's grown-up time, it's not because you have to work, and care for your children and face crude banality in all its horror that metaphores and symboles don't have a place anymore. They still do, more than ever in fact.
Believe in yourself, and believe in Buffy, and believe in Mutant Ennemy :)

Re: Mine essay 2/2

[generalblossom.livejournal.com]

I like your essay! I agree mostly, though I am more cynical, the idea that the asylum is real is important to me, I can believe on it as the real answer, but as Buffy does chose to believe in the Sunnydale Buffy. Plus this is actually the largest sacrifice Buffy does, she is giving up Joyce again and her sanity, for the friends which define her. Ok, this might answer my quibble about why on earth does she care so much about what stuck up Xander things about sex with Spike ( which just having seen Seeing Red, he seems to care cos now his taunting Spike he would never sex with Buffy was well wrong and can do it no longer).

Re: Mine essay 2/2

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

My opinion is that both alternatives (the asyllum is real, or the asyllum was just an illusion) are both equally irrellevant, or relevant. There's no truth here, because we are in the context of metatext.

I think choosing for Sunnydale-reality has a lot to do with her identity as a Slayer as well as choosing her friends, and her sister. (Because come on ! Dawn is a sweetie <3)
Well, i'm all for bashing Xander in the latter seasons too, anyway ^^