#~1

Janos Quested/Riptide

Like seriously, I love this guy? He doesn’t speak a word the entire movie and, let’s face it, while he has his moments, he’s probably the least useful member of the Hellfire Club. But damn does he look good in that suit/white t shirt and shorts combo. Poster boy definitely.

I just can’t stop giggling at him

Especially how quickly he gets taken out at Cuba. Like if I remember correctly, I think it’s Alex knocks him back and then Erik flattens him with a bit of metal and continues to run on tippy toes over him . And the guy presumably stays there for the remainder of the time.

Also, he’s the only member of the original Hellfire Club to not be mentioned as dead by Erik in DoFP and I don’t think there’s any pictures either. Which means, for all intensive purposes, that he’s still alive. This guy outlived all the rest of them.

My mom had surgery (which went very well), so she's resting up at the hospital in San Diego for a few days, and my dad's with her, so I'm taking care of the house and my brother while they're gone. I've cooked twice since they left and my food has actually been pretty decent - maybe I can be good at this competent adulthood thing?

The Red Sox are in the World Series! This two-week wait for Korra will kill me, but at least I'll have something to distract me for a few evenings!

Finished BtVS season 5 last night. I don't think I'll devote an entire post to it, but I have to say I really felt engaged with the show for the first consistent stretch. The current composition of Scoobies (Buffy, Willow, Xander, Dawn, Tara, Anya, Giles, and Spike) has a wonderful rapport and click together well, the plot is captivating, and having Dawn around does so much for the show's emotional resonance and giving Buffy something concrete to strive for. It's so much more interesting to see her fight for her sister instead of her boyfriend.

The Wan episodes have really made me excited for the last half of Book 2. An unprecedented spiritual challenge for the Avatar who has struggled with her spirituality all her life? Yes, please!

If you haven't checked out Jackie/elventhespian's simkorra blog, you're really missing out. It has given me so much joy these last couple days. I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard!

It's funny how taking the show out of high school really did change its overall feel quite a bit. Buffy's conversation with Willow as they were rappelling into the Initiative seemed very fitting for a lot of reasons, but the one that especially resonated with me was Willow talking about how hard it is to keep the high school gang together in college, and Buffy apologizing for being so wrapped up in her own stuff she neglected her friendships. In a meta sense, you could easily apply those themes to the season as a whole. It's a rebuilding season - they're changing up the setting and reworking the Scoobies' dynamic, so it's a transition period for everyone. There were things I really liked and things I really didn't, which, honestly, is as it should be. No show is perfect, and in order to reach some really great and triumphant places, you also have to work out some of the snarls. Give and take, you know?

Let's get into some bullet points!

The good:

Buffy and Willow's friendship! I liked that they had some rough spots, kept secrets, and weren't always nice to each other, but came through the season loving each other as much as ever.

Tara, Anya, and Spike - I thought they each brought something new and interesting to the show and I enjoyed having them around, even if Spike's a bit of a huge loser at the moment.

If there's one thing this show's been consistently good at, it's the little nuggets of humor, particularly if they're riffing on the intersection of the mundane and the fantastic (phrasing c/o Brad Bird, who uses this so well in The Incredibles). It's genuinely hilarious, and it got even better this season.

I actually liked Xander a lot, which I would have thought nigh impossible early on. Well, I've always liked Xander when he's having loyal friendship moments with Buffy and Willow and not being a horndog, but I felt like those moments were pretty few and far between in high school. Thankfully, his obnoxious moments were less pronounced now that he's graduated. So yay! I also think having Anya around does wonders for Xander's likability.

Giles, but of course I always love Giles.

I knew it was coming, but Willow and Tara's relationship is great and so refreshing. Oz ... had his moments, I guess. I liked him well enough. But Tara and Willow's dynamic is so much more interesting - as I said to Caitlin, why would you even want Oz back after Tara?

There were definitely quite a few moments I really related to, having just finished my undergrad and all.

Maggie Walsh had potential early on. I enjoyed her immensely when she was just Buffy's hardass psychology professor. (She reminded me a bit of Lin Beifong, actually, though of course that went down the drain the second we went into the Initiative and saw how she really felt about Buffy, sigh.)

The Scooby dynamic in general is just such a pleasure to watch. In general, my favorite scenes were definitely when they were powwowing in Giles's apartment and being friends together.

Some pretty great one-off or fast arc episodes, like "Hush" and the Faith two-parter.

I was very lukewarm on the Initiative plot as a whole, but the moment where Willow, Xander, and Giles merged with Buffy was A+ and really great to watch.

The bad:

Riley. Riley Riley Riley Riley. He's not interesting, it's really weird that he was into her and her still her TA, and he just doesn't fit well into the Scooby Gang.

I was over the Initiative plot pretty quickly. I don't think there was much about it that was at all compelling and I was so glad when we were done with it.

It seems like every time there's a PoC on this show, they either turn out to be evil or die or both, and I think the only exception to that this season was Giles's friend with benefits?

The whole Parker plotline was just sighs on sighs - did we really need to see Buffy have another bad experience with sex? Did we really need to acknowledge that there are jerk guys out there who will use you? Sure, they exist. So do plenty of nice guys? (So do plenty of nice guys who aren't Riley.) Was the purpose of it just to show that Buffy has a tendency to go for guys who aren't good for her or...?

I've noticed that older female characters who could have a lot to offer Buffy don't seem to stick around very long. Jenny Calendar dies, Maggie Walsh turns evil and then dies... (and while she's hardly a one-off character and she has taught Buffy plenty, I've sadly been spoiled on Joyce's death, and the thought that it's coming is so, so sad for me, because I really like her and wanted to see more of her.)

So! I think I liked more than I disliked, but it definitely wasn't my favorite season. Still, the things I did like largely seem like they're going to carry on into future seasons, so I'm excited to see where it goes.

The first one was "Bad Eggs," and boy oh boy was it awful! I'm not a fan of the Monster of the Week stuff to begin with, and then episodes where the primary cast members get possessed by zany Sunnydale shenanigans usually really get on my nerves (the only one of that ilk I haven't minded much so far was the Halloween ep), so that was two strikes against it from the start. Then the thematic structure was all over the place and the cowboy vampires were there for no reason at all - yeah, long story short, not my cup of tea!

But then the next episode was much better, so that was nice.

For some reason I thought Buffy and Angel didn't have sex until season 3? But they looked pretty post-coital at the end, so I guess I was misinformed.

I love UST of the belligerent sort, but I don't love Xander/Cordelia. It was funny the first couple times they kissed, but I think the thing I usually like most about UST is that usually it's coupled (hur hur) with a dynamic where the characters have a lot to learn from each other and leads to a better mutual understanding - i.e. the unresolved tension gets resolved! Not seeing much of that for Xander and Cordy.

What is going on with Ms. Calendar? Please don't make her a bad person, I really like her.

Oz is cute, and I like that Willow has a guy that's really into her, and the awkwardness is kind of fun, but I can't get into it because I know Willow figures out she's a lesbian later.

I know Buffy isn't allowed to reveal her slayer identity, but it does make me a bit uncomfortable that her mom isn't in on the secret (and it's still okay for characters like Cordy and Oz to know?). Poor Joyce.

Drusilla's become much more interesting since she got her strength back. I wouldn't say I like her, exactly, but she's more effective, which makes for a better story in the long run.

Maybe it's just because I've never been in a relationship before, but it really kind of grates on me when these narratives about teenage girls with boyfriends (particularly of the supernatural sort) focus on how ~all-consuming and special~ their love is, and how ~her entire future is him~ and ~nothing matters more~. I don't know, I could just be that I'm cynical and bitter, but especially knowing that Buffy does get involved with other guys later on, it's kind of like, maybe put things in perspective a little? He may be a dishy vampire, but when it comes down to it he's just a guy, and they're a dime a dozen (lol, says the girl who's never even held hands with one before, but you know what I mean?)