Completely shallow thoughts on S5

[snick_backup]

Yanno, the costumers really glammed up a few people in S5. Most notable is Tara, who goes from S4 frumpiness to the one here in my icon - makeup, actual hairdressing, and clothes of a hippy-cool flavor to complement Willow's funky-cool. She's gorgeous, basically.

But Buffy's a lot more glamorous in S5, too. Partly it's the longer hair, which is now always styled in those big loose curls. It's the makeup, too, especially the darker shades of lipstick. I'm not convinced this new look makes her more mature so much as just harder. The big angst is only just starting (housemate and I watched "Shadow" tonight), but already Buffy's nearing that edge.

And, I'd forgotten just how adorable a character Anya is in S5. Like here:

[To suave!Xander] You can't make it any different. I'm going to get old and you can't promise you'll be with me when I'm wrinkly and my teeth are artificial and stuck into my wrinkly mouth with an adhesive.

(5.5 "No Place Like Home")

What kind of demon is she? There's a lot of different kinds, some are very very evil, some have been considered to be useful members of society...

(5.6 "Family")

GILES: All that aside, I should think you'd be pleased to avoid the confrontation [when Riley blew up the vamp crypt by himself].
ANYA: That's what I've been saying. I mean, I, for one, wasn't looking forward to
starting my day with a slaughter. (thoughtfully, pleased with herself) Which, really, just goes to show how much I've grown.

(5.8 "Shadow")

Aww. And pretty soon we'll be to her speech in "The Body," which gets my vote for THE Anya moment and all by itself is enough to justify Anya's entire existence as a character.

Comments

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

Amber is pretty. Great bone structure. And she seems super smart and nice, too. Though I'm still weirded out that she's dating Adam Busch.

S5!Buffy is my favorite Buffy as far as looks go. I have a Thing for her hair, same as Spike, and I love the shampoo commercial hair in S5. As someone who constantly battles my own hair to keep it in actual curls-not-frizz and with some sort of shape, I am soooo jealous of that hair.

Anya is totally wonderful, and I'd forgotten some of those quotes, so thank you for sharing them.

And AMEN about "The Body." That scene is perfection. The writing + Emma Caulfield's acting (severely underrated actress, that one) = me weeping like a little bitty baby. A hungry, angry baby.

This is seriously making me consider the idea of duct-taping the BFF to a chair and making her watch the show so that I can record all of her reactions...

[snickfic]

Though I'm still weirded out that she's dating Adam Busch.

That is quite understable. Huh. This I did not know.

I'm feeling a bit iffy about S5!Buffy's appearance, actually. She just seems a bit too prepped - up to now she's always felt a bit more carefree. (Also: if you had a professional TV hairdresser doing your hair every day, it'd too would look effortlessly fabulous.)

Yay, Anya quotes! I might share more as I get to them. She's just so quoteable! Watching with the housemate, it's just being confirmed how very much more I like her than either Xander or her relationship with Xander.

I've actually only watched "The Body" once. I kind of skipped it in my rewatches. It's just so raw. Impressive, but most comfortably remembered from a distance.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

Oh, really? Yeah, they've been dating for years.

Oh, I'm just thinking about the hair--clothes, makeup, etc. doesn't register much with me (except when it's something exceptionally good--like the blue coat in "Becoming Part I" or exceptionally bad--there's some really awful stuff, especially in the earlier seasons). Maybe we can fanwank it: she's losing control over her life, so she concentrates on something she can control (i.e. her looks) in an effort to distract herself? Does that work for you? ;)

Also: if you had a professional TV hairdresser doing your hair every day, it'd too would look effortlessly fabulous. True. Wouldn't that be nice?

it's just being confirmed how very much more I like her than either Xander or her relationship with Xander. OH YES. YES YES YES.

I've watched it two or three times, but yes: it leaves you saw raw.

[snickfic]

The Newer and Spiffier Buffy starts even before the angst though - "Real Me" is the first place I consciously noticed it. Maybe it's like the think with Willow in the summer before S4 - she just got the urge for a makeover.

I have never paid this much attention to costuming on a TV show before, but for some the combination of rewatching and rewatching with a female friend to whom I can point out these things makes me notice things more.

For Buffy Worse Outfit Ever, I nominate those pants at the beginning of Where the Wild Things Are. They're like... snakeskin pattern? *shudders* When we saw those, we should have known the ep would be bad...

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

Now that I think about it, I do pay more attention than I thought, because I realize I can picture a lot of her outfits in episodes I've watched a lot.

I think I remember those! Ugh! They were awful! And yes: that is an awful episode. It really is.

[deird1]

Oh, really? Yeah, they've been dating for years.

Apparently they met at the end-of-season party after season 6.

[next_to_normal]

Really? I recall Amber telling the story of the first time she met Adam - she went up to him and said chirpily, "You're going to kill me!" and Adam was all, "Uhhh... hi?" Which must have been before S6 was finished, if they hadn't filmed SR yet...

I don't think they started dating until after S6 was over, though.

[deird1]

I went to a Q&A with Amber a few years ago, and she said they never met until after the season finished.
(I remember mainly because the entire room went "No, that can't be right, because he shot you..." and she had to point out that they weren't actually on set together during that scene.)

[angearia.livejournal.com]

I've actually only watched "The Body" once. I kind of skipped it in my rewatches. It's just so raw. Impressive, but most comfortably remembered from a distance.

Oh wow, I do that, too! I just can't watch it again even though it's indelibly imprinted in my memory. I always skip it during rewatches, not because it's bad, but because it's too much.

[snickfic]

Cross-post!

This is seriously making me consider the idea of duct-taping the BFF to a chair and making her watch the show so that I can record all of her reactions...

I support this.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

If only she weren't so busy with school all the time....

[snickfic]

Darn these people with actual lives...

[next_to_normal]

Though I'm still weirded out that she's dating Adam Busch.

OMG that totally weirds me out. I saw a video of them once at a con Q&A and there was this total disconnect going on in my brain.

S5!Buffy is my favorite Buffy as far as looks go. I have a Thing for her hair, same as Spike, and I love the shampoo commercial hair in S5. As someone who constantly battles my own hair to keep it in actual curls-not-frizz and with some sort of shape, I am soooo jealous of that hair.

Word. Except for the curls-not-frizz part, because my hair falls more into the "oddly semi-wavy but I wish it would just be straight" category. I actually loveloveLOVE Veronica's S1 hair, but that's beside the point, which is that I envy anyone who can achieve that kind of shampoo-commercial perfection in any style.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

You have great taste in icons, have I mentioned?

They seem really happy! They're always working on projects together and stuff, so I think they hit it off creatively, too, which is wonderful. It's just so funny.

"oddly semi-wavy but I wish it would just be straight" My mama's is like that. Mine is definitely curly, but it never looks as sleek and defined as I wish it did, plus it's hard to deal with the shape. It's also really strange for me because I feel like it's very, very rare to see media depictions of actual curly hair. Or maybe that's just me?

I have a friend (madcap_shiny) who is totally obsessed with S1!Veronica's hair, and whenever I bring up plot bunnies for future VMars fics, she always says, "Can Veronica have her S1 hair?" And I always promise to make it so. And then end up not writing the fic because I'm lazy. ;)

which is that I envy anyone who can achieve that kind of shampoo-commercial perfection in any style. I had a conversation with my sister just last night about my BFF's hair. She said, "Amy has perfect hair. Like, perfect." And I said, "Yeah, it's shampoo commercial hair." And she said, "OH IT SO IS. YES." And I giggled, thinking of this conversation with snickfic.

[snickfic]

It's also really strange for me because I feel like it's very, very rare to see media depictions of actual curly hair. Or maybe that's just me?

I don't think it's just you. In fact, I've run across curly-people websites in which folks gripe about the under-representation of curly-haired people, which amuses me more than anything.

Possibly it's just that actual naturally curly hair is just harder to control than other hair? Heaven forbid there be a hair on that actress's head that isn't exactly where we put it...

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

There's definitely a whole Curly Girl (from the name of a book) subculture that I've run into in my endless attempts to find the best shampoo/gel/conditioner/mousse/whatever, but I don't know that I've seen the gripes about under-representation, though I totally would not be surprised to see that.

Possibly it's just that actual naturally curly hair is just harder to control than other hair? Heaven forbid there be a hair on that actress's head that isn't exactly where we put it...

I'm sure that's part of it, but I think it's also racially motivated. Anything that deviates from the Western/Northern European norm of beauty is shoved to the side. Obviously, my white girl curly hair (or my daddy's Gentile Jewfro that he had for years before he started cutting it super, super short) is nowhere near as politicized and fraught as African-American hair. But I do think it's related: that fear of "wildness." I've seen several studies that show a woman who goes into an interview with straight hair is much, much more likely to be hired and to be perceived as "professional." Literally, they'll show pictures of the same woman, same outfit, same resume, same everything but sometimes with straight hair and sometimes with curly and the words people use to describe her are completely different. It's absolutely fascinating...and a tad disheartening for me.

The fact that on the rare occasions when I do straighten my hair, everyone says in the most shocked of voices, "Wow. You look good" is more than a tad annoying, too.

Here! Have an Inara icon! Perhaps my fondness for her has something to do with the fact that her hair is the closest I've ever seen to mine on TV, though hers is a lot more...polished. ;)

And now I'm going to shut up about my hair issues. But I might one day make an epic post in my journal about them.

[next_to_normal]

It's also really strange for me because I feel like it's very, very rare to see media depictions of actual curly hair. Or maybe that's just me?

I don't think it's just you. TV hair definitely seems to trend toward that long, wavy curls thing (which my hair will NEVER do, no matter how hard I try, which is why I tend to keep it short). The only one I can think of with actual curly hair was Felicity - which is perhaps why there was such an uproar when she cut it off.

Veronica just looks SO CUTE OMG with short hair. And she manages to put it up in buns and ponytails with NO short hairs falling out. I envy that.

Also, it really bothers me that her natural long hair in S2 and S3 looks nothing like the long-hair wig she wore in the S1 flashbacks.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

Yeah, THE HAIR on TV right now is Blake Lively's on Gossip Girl. Random magazines and such have articles on it all the time. And it really is gorgeous.

We can form a "My hair will never do that" club or something.

Felicity's was beautiful. *sigh*

And she manages to put it up in buns and ponytails with NO short hairs falling out. I envy that. Oh my goodness! I know! HOW?

Hee! That cracks me up quite a bit. It's like it annoys me that William's hair in FfL is so completely different than in LMPTM...because they got rid of the original wig!

[gigi-tastic.livejournal.com]

oh i love that speech!!! GO ANYA! my favorite though is the one when shes practicing her vows. it just breaks my heart

[snickfic]

Ohhh. Yes. I don't rewatch S6 as much, so that one doesn't spring to mind as readily. But yes, oh Anya...

[gigi-tastic.livejournal.com]

i loves her. shes my favorite and is unappreciated i think nice to know someone else loves her!

[snickfic]

Oh yes. I've written a few drabbles for her, but nothing longer - I haven't nailed down yet how to write her for longer stretches. And it's darned difficult to find fic by anyone else...

[deird1]

I understand her pretty well, I think (she's a lot like me), but that doesn't tend to translate into writing about her.

I'm much more likely to write about characters who nag at me - people like Anya, who I'm so nuts about on the show, don't really leave me wanting more in fic.

[seapealsh.livejournal.com]

I enjoy Anya. She has some of the best lines, all delivered wonderfully. I think the character was mistreated and disrespected by the Scoobies, and that's why I appreciate the time travel fixit fics where Anya is treated better the second time around.

[snickfic]

I confess, I'm usually awfully suspicious of fics whose clear purpose is to "fix" canon, in whatever way. They often end up feeling more like arguments than stories. Plus, it seems sort of disrespectful of canon - which seems like a funny way of phrasing things, I know, especially considering of silly or just nonsensical our canon frequently is. Yet, if there's something in canon that seems nonsensical or just mean - the way they all disregard Anya's mystical knowledge, for example - then I want to fix it some way that respects canon representations and things.

All of that's very vague, and probably more than you wanted to know anyway. :p It's just I have a sort of tic about "fix-it fics," at least as I usually see them written.