elisi's humble abode

The girls LOVED it. And it's really very much 'The Buffy verse does Doctor Who'.

('Doctor Who is how we warn our children that there are people in the world who want to eat them.' Steven Moffat)

Of course it's more grownup, but so many of the ingredients are the same - the children being targeted, the puppets being evil, all the stuff about storytelling being used (and misused) and the stories (songs) within the story being important plot points, the magic, the transformations, and - of course - all the silly humour. They found EVERYTHING with puppet!Angel hilarious.

~~~

And, since it fits right in, go read Mitt Romney Fired Big Bird. I still can't get over that particular pledge - what's next? Stealing candy from kids in order to help fund war? (Random comment I remember from Radio 4 this lunchtime. Sandy Toksvik: "Barack Obama was born in Hawaii. Mitt Romney was assembled on the Death Star.")

(Am busy trying to get all my DW meta thoughts in order. There will be a LONG post at some point. Oh yes.)

ETA: Oh oh oh! Meant to share this last week, but forgot. If you want to know how we view Mittens from across the ocean (and are interested in his apparent lack of basic knowledge of the world! To be honest, that part is kinda worrying), watch this. Also hysterically funny:

Thanks to Kiki_May and promethia_tenk I went and hunted down a vid I remembered, but had lost. And I've been flailing ever since and now need to share it with you, since it's possible you don't know it...

Ruiner by danegen. Summary: Angel, Spike, Connor (daddy issues)

I can't say anything other than WATCH IT! It's brilliantly edited and the visual parallels will FLOOR you. Also... Angel. Damn. To quote Promethia:

But then, AtS just gets my vote all over for taking a hockey stick to the shins of the hero narrative and leaving it on its back, wondering what happened.

Which we've known from the beginning, actually (esp if you count 'Amends' as the first AtS episode. Which I do):

“It’s not the demon in me that needs killing, it’s the man.”

Or, to quote Philip Larkin:

They fuck you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.

But they were fucked up in their turn
By fools in old-style hats and coats,
Who half the time were soppy-stern
And half at one another's throats.

Man hands on misery to man.
It deepens like a coastal shelf.
Get out as early as you can,
And don't have any kids yourself.

So in conclusion: Watch the vid. SO GOOD!

This was written ages ago, and came about after reading various posts about Angel and people’s dissatisfaction with S5 (and Angel’s arc) etc. Not sure why I’m posting it now, but hey ho, no one bothered to comment on my fic and I’m bored and trying to tidy (and I'm IMPATIENT and want it to be tomorrow) and I need people talking to me.

ETA: Don't mention the comics. None of them. They're irrelevant to this post.

( Read more... )

It's a funny thing, but the comics are making me more fond of the show, more grateful for what we got and more willing to overlook the flaws. Anyway, today I went and re-read the_royal_anna's review of Damage, and then began looking through the comments and found this absolute gem by ascian3. Under cut, cause it's a bit long. (Italics at the start is ascian3 quoting from Anna's post btw.)

( Read more... )

There's a lot of talk about Angel at the moment. Dismissing the comics (they are filthy things, we shall speak of them no more) I've noticed something. Most people seem to think that Angel's final plan was foolish. That it was borne from a desire to go down in a blaze of glory, with no regards as to the aftermath. He gave up [on humanity]. He gave in [to his deathwish]. He sold out, completely [to his dark side]. He stopped caring [about his mission]. His plan was pointless and probably brought more harm than good.

And I've never seen it like this. The meticulousness which with Angel plans doesn't speak to me of someone in the throes of depression, someone who just wants out. Because we saw that already at the very start of 'You're Welcome':

ANGEL: There's nothing more to discuss. I'm resigning.
LORNE: Gee, it seems like a ripe topic for discussion to me.
WESLEY: What happened last night was tragic. It's a terrible setback, but—
ANGEL: Setback, Wes? It's status quo. Evil wins, 'cause instead of just wiping it out, we negotiate with it. Or worse...for it.
FRED: Angel, we're doing the best we can.
ANGEL: It's not that you guys aren't doing your jobs. It's that we shouldn't be doing these jobs in the first place... or I shouldn't.

Angel's final plan is something much, much, much different. And today I found an essay that's like gold dust! It shows how Angel becomes the general that Buffy could never be (and should never be. That's not her role). It puts the whole verse into perspective, and overall context. Also it is beautifully written - I don't know anyone else who can make meta so lyrical:

The Military Soundness of Angel's Final Plan by fodian.

And as always, it comes back to 'Why We Fight':

LAWSON: We [the good guys] wouldn't do that. You don't win a war by doing whatever it takes. You win by doing what's right.
SPIKE: Yeah? Let me know how that works out for you, Popeye.

Spike, as per usual, sees the truth. So Angel plays the hand that he's given, and does whatever it takes. And Spike, remember, is the first to raise his hand.

(Disabling comments because I'm so tired of talking about this. Also it's the weekend and I won't have the time. But feel free to link.)

I said that I was planning an Angel essay, but won't now write it. However, I do want to share what would have been the introductory quote. Go read the whole post:

People say Angel's a hero, but he's not really a hero. He's just a guy, you know? Just a regular guy, and it's like someone came up to him and handed him a box full of dog shit with a card that says, "Here's your life. Deal." And then he does. He's a victim of circumstance. He didn't do anything to deserve the things he has to go through, but he gets through them because he has to, and he makes the most of it. He builds himself a family and creates a place for himself to belong in, and while he's trying to save himself from his shitty destiny that he had no choice about, he's saving other people along the way. And I know this, because I'm one of the people that he saved. So maybe he is a hero, but he's an accidental hero, and that's why I love him. Because he's not perfect. Because he's got problems, like everyone else in the world, like me. Because he doesn't give up, even when there's absolutely no hope. Because he has days when he doesn't want to get out of bed but he does it anyway. Because he'd never just go off somewhere and die, but he's so willing to die for other people if they need him.
girlpire: How Angel Saved My Life.

~~~

Now the icon... I had ruuger make it for me a few years ago (to go with my matching one of Spike), because I was working on a fic, and wanted icons. To those that remember 'Maybe Someday' this was to be the sequel - a long and plotty epic about Angel, Spike and Illyria trying to take down W&H (with plenty of cameos by Buffy et al.). I have about 50,000 words written down, but since I reckoned it'd be about that much again I began focussing on other stories, and it just got left behind. But since this sort-of-NaNo thing is going rather well at the moment, I began thinking that maybe I should get back to it. Because it's a good story, and I'm very proud of it. Not least because it has actual, real plot at its heart, which hardly ever happens with me. (It's also the reason I never started posting it - I knew I'd have to have everything down so I could keep things straight. ETA: Had a look through some of it and... I'd forgotten how ruthless my Angel is. And how he kinda breaks my heart at the same time.)

Umm, this turned into a whole writing talk. Sorry. My mind is a bit meandering at the moment.

jnb71976 has written an extraordinary post. It's a rant about s8 (and she is actually being far more generous to its strengths that I am), but at its heart she talks about how s8 has destroyed Angel. I've been toying with the idea of writing an Angel-essay, but I won't have to now, because she wrote this. (Btw, the icon is from a drawing I once made for Anna, and that she then made into an icon for me. Suddenly realised that it captured *my* Angel perfectly.)

This is my Angel by jnb71976:

Joss took Angel out of Buffy’s world years ago. Angel loved and grew and succeeded and failed without her influence. He took steps forward, steps back. He created a family, a business, a home. He helped the helpless. He fell down and failed. He got up and tried again. He loved, he defended, he fought. He had a son. He had brothers. He had a sister and a best friend who he fell in love with and who gave him his mission. Was his mission incarnate. He understood, deep down (pun intended) that nothing he did mattered and that all that mattered was what he did. That kindness is the greatest virtue. That loyalty and familial love are to be prized above all things. That the burning pain inside him was not meant to be quelled, but stoked to purpose. Honed. He became someone Buffy would hardly recognize, let alone understand. He was not someone whose countenance Buffy should “bask” in. He was not innocence or light. He was not an ideal to aspire to. He was not the perfect anything. Not perfect happiness. Not perfect boyfriend. Not perfect heart. Not a paragon of true love or morality. He was the dark avenger – he was the soul-saver. He was Connor’s father, first and foremost, to the detriment of everything else. He was Cordelia’s champion. He was brother to Wesley, Gunn, Fred, Lorne, and even Spike.

He was the shadowed figure in the alley. He was the judge and the executioner. He was a terrible dancer and a great big dufus. He loved hockey and ballet and ice cream. He cut himself off from love and had to drag himself back, kicking and grunting. More than once. When he smiled, the room lit up. He was obsessive-compulsive with cleaning and organizing his weapons. When people fell, he caught them. He sang badly to his baby boy and crowds of demons. He wore stylish suits and lamented his puffed-up hair. He was death, and it suited him. He was the dark, and he fought against the dark.

~~~

My favourite vid about Angel (the show) is yhlee's Have You heard. (You can't win, you can't break even, you can't get out of the game--but you can fight.) Watch it.

Or rather, things that make me painfully nostalgic, to the point where I'm fighting back tears... Because Buffy and Angel were my shows, and lo, they were awesome and incredible. So - two things you should all go read/watch:

Just a Normal Girl: The Seven Lessons of Being Buffy by st_salieri. This is my Buffy.

Have You Heard AtS vid by yhlee. (You can't win, you can't break even, you can't get out of the game--but you can fight.) This is my Angel.

LA Times obituary.

Nice TV Guide article.

Lorne quotes by jheaton.

Doll tribute by mere_ubu.

beer_good_foamy wrote (pre-series) fic: The Moment I Wake Up.

Lovely tribute by Keith Topping, who interviewed Andy twice.

Beautiful post-NFA Lorne & Fred fic by spuffyduds (from last year): You Think She’s an Open Book (but you don’t know which page to turn to).

Thank you lots to everyone who gave me links. Will reply to comments soon, promise!

I was thinking to myself that I wished there was something I could point people towards, and then things began appearing:

Firstly I remembered a 4-year old mini vid, made by sdwolfpup (who made this icon to match): A Little Fall of Rain, which features that rarest of OTPs: Lorne/Puppet!Angel. This made me smile in the best way possible, and remember exactly the joy of Lorne.

Then rahirah wrote the most perfect drabble: Coda.

Also EW's Popwatch has a lovely tribute, including clips of 'I Will Survive' and 'Lady Marmalade'.

(If anyone finds something else please link me.)