Re: FIC: My Statements pt6

[danspector@xxxxxxxxx]

Will,

Well, yes, you have temporarily moved from comedy to action/angst with
this fic, but that's okay: you can mix the two. Indeed, I'm already
thinking about how funny it would be if Tara, from observing Willow's
actions, decided that Willow was in love with Buffy, and tearily "broke
the news to her", only to be told that Willow already knew this, and
it's in a letter, but the envelopes got mixed up. I mean, burn!

Back to the fic, I liked Tara checking Willow's eyes. It's a nice echo
of drug addiction without being the blatant copy that the season-arc
descended to. On the criticism that it's out of character for Tara to
worry about why Willow is doing magic for Buffy, I think that's only
true if you put a "she's cheating on me? How can she? I love her!" spin
on it. That would be being self-obsessed and out of character for Tara,
but I don't think that has to be so. It seems perfectly reasonable to
me that Tara's thoughts here are more of the "what's going on?" variety,
since Willow's use of magic is a potential source of danger, and Tara
can be confused and concerned about it without this necessarily meaning
that she's angsting over her love life.

************************************

About Dawn/Janice (since you asked):

Loved it! Loved it! Loved it!

In fact, I loved it so much, I wondered why. Why am I so excited to see
a 'shippage that's based on a character who only appeared once, in an ep
I didn't like? I know, I've started plugging it in my reviews, but that
was originally a joke. Yet, I was practically cheering over this scene.

Well, part of it is for how tenderly the whole thing was handled, with
Janice just digging the human contact and Dawn's vicarious excitement
over the B/W possibilities. But what I really think got to me was
seeing Dawn so nervous and scared, wanting to kiss Janice, but not able
to.

Because all of Dawn's issues this year have been kind of arrogant; all
that "you're trying to abandon me, Buffy!" yowling essentially presumes
that Buffy should be with Dawn, that Dawn is so wonderful, that Buffy is
entirely wrong everytime she does something Dawn doesn't like. I'm all
for sisterly bonding, but there's a sense of entitlement that's
off-putting.

But let us see Dawn the eager-yet-petrified 15 year old in love,
grappling with her sexuality (surely she's enthusing over W/T and B/W
because they reassure her that her own lesbianism is okay), unable to
kiss the girl she wants to with all her heart, and it's very endearing.

We do need a little more depth on Janice, though. Was she always warm
for Dawn, or did she fall for her post-"All the Way"? Is she up-to-date
on the Scooby stuff, or going through Sunnydale Denial Syndrome? Has
she had a girlfriend before, or is she just more ready than Dawn is?

Oh, and good to remember how unpopular Dawn is at school. Janice
wondering why no one else could see how special Dawn was is very loving
and sweet.

Anyway, don't want to make the fb longer than the fic :) The
cliffhanger was good, too, but that's hardly a surprise. Looking
forward to whatever's coming next. 

Dan