Feedback: Anne-Lise and Fox--various

[danspector@xxxxxxxxx]

Well, our prolific bushkangaroo always digs the fb, so I thought I'd
send a passel of it for her and her collaboratrix?

"The Scoobyship of the Ring" or whatever (it was untitled), was a very
enjoyable parody that moved a complex story quickly and still kept the
characters their recognizable Buffyverse selves, to an extent. I liked
your unconventional casting of Angel as Gandalf (standard procedure
would be Giles, with Angel and Spike as Aragorn and Boromir, in some
combo)--he had a nicely bitchy hectoring side to him. Looking forward
to more (hint).

Tempted not to touch "Homeward Bound", since you complained of not
getting fb for it and I gave it to you back in the day--

--exact same sitch on "Enigma", btw. Bitch, bitch, moan, moan
<<receives urgent dispatch and stern glance from Mad-Hamlet>> er, I
mean, grumble, grumble, mutter, curse, of course--

--but I still love it, and the simplicity with which you wrapped it up
makes me surprised you didn't do it sooner.

I've never really been able to get into your Tara/Dawn thing, since I
think it a little odd the Summers girls would both switch at the same
time and then hook up with both halves of an ex-couple (make for some
odd family dinners, to say the least). Plus, a girl who thinks Spike's
the coolest is unlikely to appreciate Tara's quiet decency (now, Anya,
OTOH, with all that sex talk, would be quite enticing). 

Having said that, I think "Homeward Bound" does a really credible job of
setting up the situation, with both Buffy and Dawn's new affections
happening independently, and yet springing from the same situation.
Plus it's always fun to revisit classic lines ("Tara's your
girlfriend?").

Sticking to T/D, "One Down, Eight to Go" was charming fluff. I guess
Miss Kitty really hadn't told them her real name, after all. Loved
Buffy being embarassed at calling Willow's name in her sleep, and the "I
was hopeful" admission.

Moving to the cartoon, lot of fun, and of course a stake would be
Connor's first toy. But if Angel was a decent dad, he would have turned
around, taken care of the old business with Dru himself, and let Connor
get a proper education, all at once.

Fox. thanks for your reply to my rant. On "Flooded" vs. "Wrecked", I
couldn't find a single thing in the former that involved me at all, so I
would go with boring. Plus I have my myriad reasons (previously
detailed) for loathing the W/G and B/S scenes, which as it turns out,
are extraneous now that the plot's made this left turn into addiction
land.

Whereas in "Wrecked", despite a tone that reviewers have properly
compared to, variously, an Afterschool Special, "Reefer Madness", or a
Roger Corman cheapy, despite three huge continuity errors

[--guess I better list them, since I keep alluding to them:

1) Willow tells Tara she de-ratted Amy "last night", but it was two
nights ago, at the start of "Smashed"
2) Amy says her dad's expecting her, but when she and Willow went out
for the evening (in "Smashed") she hadn't told him she was back yet.
3) When Buffy goes to see Spike, they both say the sex was last night,
but there's been an intervening day and night (where Willow and Amy went
to Rack's) in the ep]

--and despite an illogical plot turn (which I'd be more upset about if
I'd been able to stomach the original Evil Willow plot), the ep did at
least, in Buffy's lyrics, "give me something to sing about". A partial
B/W reconciliation, even after Willow hits bottom, the "Tara didn't even
know that girl" exchange, which explains a good portion of Willow's
dream in "Restless" AND establishes that Buffy has a deeper appreciation
and feeling for Willow than Tara does ("You are more than 'some
girl'."), and the final shot of Buffy amid all the garlic, reminscient
of "Passion", are all diamonds in the rough.

But I grant you, it's a LOT of rough.

Best wishes to Anne-Lise, and Fox, get better already. Because, living
in Britain, if you're waiting for the weather to improve, you may be
right out of luck.

<<ducks objects thrown at his smug Californian head>>

Sincerely,

Dan