More squee! And a Spuffy thought!

[elisi]

Well, Christmas has obviously come early, because yesterday someone gifted me with more icon-space! Thank you so much anonymous benefactor! LJ-fairy? Christmas-fairy? Or... ::looks suspiciously at Anna and her magic wand::

Today we went to Impish Girl's pre-school/nursery to see their nativity play! Anyone who hasn't seen 25 3-year olds doing this hasn't lived! They were all just so cute!! And afterwards there was tea and cakes, and because about half the children are asian, and parent's brought the refreshments, I had Christmas cake and onion bhajis (sorry about spelling).

But - I also have a little thought to share:



Spuffy Thought

Now I doubt I'm the first one to notice this, but I felt like sharing anyway! We all know that heartbreaking moment:

Buffy: "I love you."
Spike: "No you don't."

I'm one of those who think that yes she meant it and yes he believed her. (See this post by the_royal_anna and this FitB by Kimi: The Way It Works - set just post-Chosen).

But that's not what I'm going to talk about. Because I discovered that there was a precedent for 'I love you' / 'No you don't'! And also that in this scene the denial doesn't mean disbelief. Let me show you - this is from the alley scene in 'Dead Things:

Spike: "You're not going in there."
Buffy: "I have to do this. Just let me go."
Spike: "I can't. I love you."
Buffy: "No, you don't."
Spike: "You think I haven't tried not to?"
Buffy hauls off and punches him in the face. Spike goes flying back into a couple of garbage cans, against the wall of the next building.
Buffy: "Try harder."

Buffy's denial is most certainly an instruction - a command even. And how interesting that this exchange comes at one of their lowest points and the mirror scene at their highest! I just liked the symmetry. Now go discuss! ;-)

Comments

[elisi]

You'll never want to go back to fewer slots now. I know I sure don't. :)

I know! And as I said to bogwitch this LJ thing was supposed to be my cheap way to join in fandom...

And about your points why Spike didn't go to Buffy or tell Angel - it's all very complicated. I have an essay that sort of deals with why Spike stayed in LA (which I'll have to sort out now, sigh). And as for telling Angel - I think that Spike just wanted to keep it to himself. I mean how do you explain Spuffy? ("You don't know what we had!")

And oh - all the rest of your thoughts are so interesting and I don't really have time to think properly now...

I swear those two have more parallels between them than any two other characters I've ever seen.

Such a good point - how's your s7 thing coming along?

Ugh, typed it all wrong - here it is again

[skylee.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I'd love to read your essay on Spike's reasons to stay in S5. I'm one of those who are in the "she meant it but he didn't dare to believe her" camp, and I think as the season goes on, Spike might have become more and more doubtful about Buffy's feelings for him (side effect of being told he's going to hell no matter what, I suppose, and from his resurrection like buttersideup said), from saying "You don't know what we had!" in Just Rewards (or is it Destiny?), to telling Angel he never thought he had a chance with Buffy in TGIQ.

Buffy's denial is most certainly an instruction - a command even.

I really liked this. Thanks for the thought provoking post!

Re: Ugh, typed it all wrong - here it is again

[elisi]

Thanks for commenting. And who knew that a few sentences could provoke so many replies?

Anyway, I'll try to hunt out my essay (it was written pre-LJ, so I'm not sure exactly where it is) and try to turn it into something postable. It was mainly written to clarify my own thoughts, so I have a feeling I have some padding out to do! :)

[sylva-rerum.livejournal.com]

And as for telling Angel - I think that Spike just wanted to keep it to himself. I mean how do you explain Spuffy? ("You don't know what we had!")

Good point. There really isn't any easy way to sum up what their relationship was.

Such a good point - how's your s7 thing coming along?

Very, very slowly. I have some of it written out, but I keep having trouble figureing out how to structure it. So it'll probably end up more like a giant mass of thoughts rather than an actual essay. Remind me to never try and take on anything like this again. :p

[elisi]

There really isn't any easy way to sum up what their relationship was.

Are you reading my fic (Play It Again, Sam)? This is terribly spoilerish, but Angel and Spike might have a chat at some point...

But yeah - what Spike and Buffy had was so complex, that I think Spike just wanted to keep it private - because you can't really explain about the good points without mentioning the bad.

And good luck with your essay - or giant mass of thoughts! I'll enjoy it however it turns out! And when I wrote my Intervention-essay I had a problem when ever I tried to edit... I just kept writing more! Which is why it became so incredibly meandering! :)