Thanks, Buffistas, for giving me a place to say all this.

Never ran out of post room before. Jeez, I'm long winded.

Giles was just some of the laziest (is he dead or not), lamest (is he corporeal or not), weakest (he's acting like a retard) writing in the history of television.

Agreed. See also, Aeryn Sun, Farscape S4.

Angel says to Buffy: "This needs a third act". What did he exactly mean?

Screen-writer speak. Meaning "you haven't written the final climax here, you've only written an interim climax". I think. Scrappy or Victor would know for sure.

Yup. Two obvious bad-writing loose ends are "Why did Giles act like a jerk after he nearly died (and how did he survive?)" and "What was with Dead!Joyce?" She was clearly the First Evil. I think.

I have to agree with ita here. There are waaaaaaay more choices in a relationship between two people than just a) using, and b) pure, unadulterated, True Love.

Sure, there's acceptance of the one-sidedness of the relationship that doesn't involve snuggling.

Sorry, folks, this is not something I would do, it is not the way I would like to be treated, and I'm going to teach my children not to act this way. Them's my values.

Of course, it doesn't matter because Buffy does love Spike and if they had both survived the apocalypse, they'd be on a date to see Matrix: Unloaded right now. Probably making out in the back row.

Ah, I love my widdle imaginary Buffyverse. It's a happy place.

Of course, it doesn't matter because Buffy does love Spike and if they had both survived the apocalypse, they'd be on a date to see Matrix: Unloaded right now. Probably making out in the back row.

I pity the poor movie theater. That make out session would probably bring the house down, literally.

Heresy alert again: I still found the "empowering all girls everywhere" more than a little cheesy. Cue the heartwarming music, cue the heartwarming images--hey, I know, a handicapped girl walks! That's heartwarming! One or two, yes, but not so many, or why the heck was everyone so worried that they'd run out of potential Slayers?

And the softball player is going to knock it out of the ballpark, never question why she's so strong, go to college on a softball scholarship, and all because she's got Slayer strength and speed now. Kind of like if Superman played football in high school.

I was never convinced over the Willow/Kennedy love affair. Maybe it was because the Kennedy character was not fully developed. Maybe it was because I just couldn't see what Willow saw in Kennedy - they seemed so different. Not convincing, and I agree with a previous post here that Kennedy should have been taken down in the finale. To me it seemed like the Kennedy character was brought in for a little ratings hike (two hot babes kissing - OK, we get it already!!), and for annoying us because of her unrelenting criticism of Buffy. Am I at least partially correct here?!?

One or two, yes, but not so many, or why the heck was everyone so worried that they'd run out of potential Slayers?

Don't harsh my mellow. *grin*

It only works as metaphor, but I loved the metaphor so much that I am singing "la la la" at the thought of killer 2-year-olds and dangerously smashy baseball players and Slayerette bullies and other such practical consequences.

Well, as I've said, I've seen the position from both sides of the fence, so my voice of experience isn't because I'm taking it personally, it's because been there, done that, and at no time did anyone involved feel used. It may have been bittersweet, but it was what we needed.

I've never claimed to be above using. I've used. It wasn't that bad. Morally wrong, yeah, but it wasn't that bad.

But using is shallow comfort (sometimes all you need to get you through exams), and the other isn't. On either side. It's connecting, openly, honestly, and with respect.

For the record I: only failed to take my husband's name because Marcontell has too many syllables, and I'd just ordered checks (though I use it here and socially); had a mother who was morally opposed to Barbie dolls, which means I find them charming and hella cool, especially the ones that look like the old style German tart dolls; dislike SUVs, as they are a pain in the ass to drive, lead to sloppy driving because you have the illusion of safety, and take up too much space in the various and sundry parking garages. (My parents drive a Rodeo, which they love, because my dad is physically uncomfortable what with his long-ass torso, in anything with less cab room, and BF's hubs drives a Bronco because he's 6'8" for the same reason, so I'll accept that big people have an SUV pass, grudgingly.)