your stitches are all out but your scars are healing wrong;

[ever_neutral]

06 | the ship where fandom is DOING IT WRONG

What about me? I love you so much. And I tried to make you go away. I
killed you and it didn't help. And I hate it. I hate that it's so hard,
and that you can hurt me so much. I know everything that you did because
you did it to me. Oh God, I wish that I wished you dead. I don't. I
can't.

I dallied on this "day", but then I figured that in the realm of "fandom IS DOING IT WRONG" ships, there is no formative contender than Buffy/Angel. I mean "formative" in the sense that the Buffyverse was my first fandom and I'd never before seen such incorrect shipping in my life. There are no scars like Buffy fandom scars, &c. &c. Obviously, the wrong shipping (as in, WRONG WRONG WRONG, not wrong!shipping which is in fact what we're here for) surrounds the idea of B/A as a straightforward pure epic starcrossed forever love, when clearly at its best it's pretty deliberately a horror story. I do think the show(s) had a tendency to romanticize the story (... a lot), but in some ways I also think that was a somewhat necessary part of the story -- it's the epitome of that heady, destructive (understatement) first love, the kind you feel like you "can't breathe" without, the kind that scars you for life. And Buffy really is emotionally scarred by Angel -- and all of the bad related to Angel -- for years into her adulthood.

In a word, it's trainwreck syndrome. I don't care for the fluff/schmoop; I don't buy into their pure forever love; I'm not sure they'd even work together in the long-term or are even particularly compatible as people aside from their damage (though I do see the potential in their friendship). But dude, watching this shit growing up, I all but threw myself before the altar of Joss Whedon's sadism.

Also, Buffy/Angelus is the kind of thing that makes one scared to walk around their house, do u feel.

Comments

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

The writing in the Buffyverse is really excellent with 'show don't tell.' There are a lot of character and story developments/growth/arcs that are never explicitly stated, instead they are implied. For example, Buffy's S6 arc. She is clearly depressed, for the entirety of that season. And there are obvious signs/symptoms of depression for years before s6 and it's there still in s7. Buffy is a character that struggles with depression. We can all agree on this. Except, she never sits down with anyone and says "I think I'm depressed, and I need some help." No one else ever sits down and says "You know, I've been noticing some things, and I think Buffy may be suffering from depression."

How did I miss this comment before? Just YES YES and more YES to all of this. There is so much THERE there. You're brilliant.

And it seems like shipping B/A is a case of taking what's being said at face value, instead of looking at what's being shown.

*nods* Because that is what a lot of people want AND need; they don't see the irony of it. Hell, I didn't at first, because I was caught up in the romance (and I watched the entire series on netflix within three weeks, so I had to go back and let it "breathe" a bit.) Sometimes I think that subtlety backfires on Joss.

I have a lot of feelings about 'show don't tell.' It's a thing.

I need to make an icon for that, because - yes. I have many feelings.

[smells_corrupt.livejournal.com]

ohmygoodness you are too sweet. It's always nice to know that my babbling rants about storytelling can sometime find an audience *G*

I need to make an icon for that, because - yes. I have many feelings.

YES.

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

Rant away, please!

It occurs to me that my "Showtime" icon could be reworked to add "Show don't tell" but 1) I'm not great with text and too lazy to rework it, and 2) a whole lot of fans would completely misinterpret it.