I think it's important to establish that I haven't given up on the idea of either running the frenetic, over-emotional newbie fans out of town or of splintering off and starting a private party somewhere else.

I mean, I got distracted by two or three feet worth of snow and then there's Dimwit's war going on which is distracting even though I'm trying to avoid most newscasts because they give me bad dreams.

But. I was answering some survey yesterday evening about on-line fandom and fanfiction and naturally that got me to thinking. (Well, what passes for thinking with me, anyhow.)

Before we get to that, though. Spike! BtVS. I'm still taping and watching the repeats and pleased to see that I'm getting some different episodes this time around.

The other night I sat down with hot, buttered popcorn and a big, old gong to experience the Singing-And-Dancing episode because, after all, if a show is going to expose itself by putting on an episode like that it would be churlish of me not to gear up the laughtrack, right?

Except. You know. It was actually pretty darned cool. In fact, I enjoyed the heck out of most of it.

Who'd a thunk it?

(The shark-headed demon episode, and yes, I know he was a loan shark and I still maintain that doesn't make it all any less stupid, was shown right after it and that episode works better in context. Still stupid, but better in context.

It's annoying that the one show on the air that really does pay close, even constant attention to continuity is the one I'm seeing bits and pieces of.)

I'm still not looking forward to watching Spike become a love-smitten lap dog but I must admit that Marsters is sure selling me on the process.

So often one of these late-blooming relationships seems grafted onto a show, you know? But in this one, I find that I really believe it. I mean, I believe that Spike is in love with Buffy. (Nor can I imagine how anyone watching the way he feels about her could slash the character, but that's a different topic, isn't it?)

I still don't get why he's in love with Buffy since the charms of her character continue to escape me. It's no doubt some flaw in me that I'm unable to see any real depth in her, even in scenes where there might as well be a neon sign flashing, "angsty moment approaches!"

I'm seeing the plot-related rationale behind why she turned, even temporarily, to a relationship with him at this point in her life, though, which is a tribute to the excellence of the writing more than anything else.

Willow continues to charm me. As does Giles, of course.

The Xander-Anya relationship continues to bore me. Anya seems to serve no purpose except to give Xander a girlfriend he can dither about and since I don't really find Xander interesting, the whole relationship is just a waste of screen time in my house.

Pause.

Sorry...Buehler's monthly beer shipment arrived and I had the usual argument with the delivery guy about how come he never brings a case of beer with my name on it.

Now, where were we?

Oh, yeah, I remember. Fandom. (You thought I'd forgotten entirely didn't you?) Presumably I had something to say when I started this.

Let me think about it and get back to you, but in the meantime, let's all ponder how odd it is that I haven't been on public lists for three or more years now and thus have had almost zero contact with the kind of "newbie" fans I'm always bemoaning and yet I have no trouble constantly ranting about how they're ruining fandom.

Pause for pondering.

As I said in a previous post, I'm a dork sometimes. But I'm an elitist dork, and don't you forget it.

"Ficcies." Bleah.