Bless you, Nilly. You not only answered my question, but your link took me right to the interview. Thanks!

How are you doing? I can't make it to Natter these days and feel like I haven't seen you in an age. Of course, with all the talk of Nilly Goes Hollywood - I can understand how busy you must be, because a star's life is just relentless. ;)

I can't make it to Natter these days and feel like I haven't seen you in an age.

I know, I feel like I haven't 'seen' you for ages, too - I think Theo said that you were on a family vacation when I mentioned you once (with your 'will convert for food' motto).

a star's life is just relentless

Oh, yeah, very demanding. Though it's good that my Hollywood trip came up only now, when my students' exams are over, and I can return to doing actual work.

t /so exclusively natter I can't even pretend to try and connect it to BtvS in any way

erm... let's see if I can fanwank a topic-connection...

There's talk of you going Hollywood, because of your inborn talent to find references. The references which you usually find for us are written in words. Jane Espenson is a writer (and linguist). You linked me to her interview which I just read (and I must say here that I just adore Jane). Naturally...

Nope. I haven't yet had enough coffee. :)

We were only away for a few days around our holiday; it wasn't our actual vacation. We're still waiting to see when our contractor (builder of the addition to our house) is going to start working here, before we plan that. It's just with Benjamin out of school, I can't find Natter time. (except, obviously, for here, and now).

I have to go see why Chris and Julia are still sleeping. (Ben is away with my mum.) I'm suspicious that there's mischief afoot. Thanks again, Nilly. Take care.

Nope. I haven't yet had enough coffee. :)

I've read worse wanks, actually. (The fanfic about Spike jerking off in the shower while thinking about Riley staking him with the plastic stake, for example. The completely bizzare explanation of the Dawn-made-of-Buffy's-blood end-of-season-five asspull as something to do with the monks taking LSD, for another example.)

Um. You may not have wanted to know that.

I really didn't want to know the Spike one, because it gave me a visual. But that's okay Am-Chau, because - well, because I'm the mum and I say so. That's why.

So - I read Herc's Jane E. Interview.

I just have to say I adore that woman. I want to have her over for coffee.

Of course, while Jane was at my kitchen table, I'd tell her why she's dead wrong about Joyce=FE in Conversations with Dead People (only after I'd spiked her coffee though, because I've seen Jane post on the Bronze and Bronze Beta, and sober? she use my ass to wipe the floor - in an argument).

For me, here's what doesn't fit about her Joyce=FE theory, and no, even though she is my new best friend, I don't care that she wrote it, and will insist upon calling it a wrong theory.

(From the shooting script)

DAWN (cont'd)

I cast you out with the strength of

those who love me. I cast you out

with the strength I have inside me--

Them's fightin' words in the Buffyverse. That's the most powerful incantation, spell, whatever, ever uttered on the show. It's the part of the mission - it is the damned mission statement from season 7. You can't eradicate evil, but you can reject it, and you do that through love, and through believing in yourself and in those that love you.

Ignore all the paranormal activity in the Summers' house that evening (even though it also backs up my point - because the FE was incorporeal, and erm... well Jane, if it had direct control ('tis understood that of course the FE has indirect control of/influence upon all evil entities) of poltergiesty stuff that could attack and wreck, why wouldn't it have used it more often? Buffy couldn't slay that sort of entity). t /digression

Where was I?

Oh, yeah, ignoring all the paranormal activity in the Summers' house that evening, despite the fact that it backs me up, Dawn driving out whatever that was, based on the strength of love, and her own inherent strength - you don't trump that in the Buffyverse. The power behind that incantation? In addition to being the point of season seven, it's the same power that wins in The Harvest. Prophecy Girl. Innocence. Becoming. Amends. Helpless. Graduation Day. The Freshman. New Moon Rising. Primeval. Family. Checkpoint. Intervention. The Weight of the World. The Gift. There wasn't much of it evident to me in season 6, but I think the point can be made that it was lacking because it was the season in which our heroes weren't heroes. It's the stuff of Grave's breaky yellow crayon.

Given that there was never much more of a payoff for Joyce/Joyce!FE's words, of course none of this matters a whit. But... I'm just sayin'...

However, I still love Jane, and this interview just reaffirmed my love. It also reminded me to give GG a try (even though I'd resisted it up 'til now), simply because she's writing for it. She's just spectacular.

RE: the FE vs. Joyce. I know Jane said it was FE, but I prefer Victor's explanation in his fabu piece of fic he wrote (Conversations with the Monster) in which Dawn recognizes that it was both her mom and the FE. He says it better, really. It's my own personal canon, now.

t /victor pimping

I always try to read all of Victor's stuff, but either I've missed that or forgotten it. Without having read/remembering it, I can totally buy it though - because that was my fanwank for Buffy's dream where the image of Joyce tells her to rest and tells her to wake. I figured both Ghost!Joyce and FE!Joyce were appearing to her, hence the conflicting messages.

Yeah, I thought that was pretty brilliant too, smonster.

t hopelessly behind in all the fic threads, no point in even STARTING to look Hey! No fair pimping a victor fic without a link! t /hbiatft,npieStl

[link] should do it, JZ