Avoidance and distraction from RL

Feb 02, 2017 09:00

Varying viewpoints on love from Buffy characters in random, disjointed bulletpoints ( Read more... )

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shapinglight February 2 2017, 17:57:13 UTC
I think you have it about right. I'm not sure if Riley's believing love is the storm is actually what he believes. I think it's all part of him comparing himself with Angel and finding himself wanting.

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infinitewhale February 2 2017, 18:40:56 UTC
Oh, I think so, too. For instance when Dawn tells him Buffy doesn't cry all the time over him like Angel, he seems dejected about it. That moment struck me as odd. Him valuing himself on the damage he could do for one thing but beside that, the reasons she was all weepy over Angel were all external things like him being in killer-mode which she blamed herself for. It wasn't, like, relationship troubles.

So I have to wonder if that didn't play into his mindset. He wanted this big, dramatic thing. I guess.

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shapinglight February 2 2017, 23:12:20 UTC
So I have to wonder if that didn't play into his mindset. He wanted this big, dramatic thing. I guess.

Yes, there's definitely an element of that about him - which is unexpected. He doesn't come across in season 4 at all as the type who'd equate love with drama and passion. But he does, whether because he believes it or because he thinks Buffy believes it. So it ends up with Dawn's words in that scene just convincing him more than ever that Buffy doesn't love him. She can't do if there's no sturm und drang, or whatever.

Maybe he never really understood that the drama in Buffy's relationship with Angel was more to do with external factors? I don't know.

Then again, when he comes back with the robot wife Sam in season 6 he's different again. Their relationship is very steady. All the drama and excitement in it comes from their physical circumstances (ie. all that leaping out of helicopters and fighting demons).

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frelling_tralk February 2 2017, 23:37:02 UTC
Butting in to say that I always thought Riley was dejected at Dawn's words because of the rather tactless way that she put it. It's bound to make most people feel like they're the safe and boring choice if it's not put in terms of 'you make her so much happier than her last boyfriend', but rather that 'she doesn't get all worked up like that over you'. My interpretation was that Riley wasn't someone who usually looked for big drama in his relationships, but that he ended up comparing himself to Angel once he sensed that Buffy was just not into him the way that he was into her. He thought that Buffy was the one who wanted the big drama and passion imo, instead there she was describing their sex as 'relaxing'

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elisi February 2 2017, 20:25:35 UTC
I shall just quote the_royal_anna:

When I think of Buffy and Angel, they are always standing opposite one another, face-to-face. They are looking only at each other, caught in the moment, still, timeless, static.

When I think of Buffy and Spike, most often they are side by side. I think of the back doorstep in Fool For Love, in Flooded, the moment he sits down beside her in Touched, the night he holds her while she lies awake in Chosen.

That says it all for me.

~

Re. Riley, then:

Here's a distinction for you.

If I tell you I'm in love with you, I'm telling you something about me. It's about how I feel about you, how you make me feel. It's about the way I feel when you're there, and the way I feel when you're not.

If I tell you I love you, I’m telling you something about you.

Basically, just the whole post. :)

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