This is just to say

that I say "this is just to say" a lot, and I've only recently realized that it's probably a testament to how many times I was forced to read the William Carlos Williams poem of the same name (along with that other WCW poem...you know, the one about the wheelbarrow) in high school.

But anyway, I also wrote two "This Is Just To Say" poems for twelvecolonies.  They're just a bit of frivolity and I don't think I spent more than ten minutes on either, but I'm posting them in case anyone else wants to see.  They are, of course, pilot-themed.

( surprisingly angsty bit of frivolity )

In other news, I wrote several pages of original fic today, which made me feel great except for the fact that it is now past 2 AM and I have not finished half the stuff I have to do for tomorrow (today).  Also my story is now 20 pages long and still growing.  Will it ever end?  It's been the longest (original) short story I've ever written since about page 15--it really didn't need to go to such lengths to prove itself.  Be warned, I have every intention of posting this monstrosity once I have a complete draft.

I will continue with the Buffy meme when it is not 2 AM...or perhaps when it is the next 2 AM.

I really shouldn't be on LJ right now

I have far too much RL stuff to do.  Oh well!

Day 2: Favorite Episode

I'm not actually going to talk about my favorite episode (ha! fooled you) since I did that before for the 30 Days of TV meme.  I talked about Graduation Day.  This time, I just want to talk about this episode...that is not my favorite episode by a longshot, although I do think it's great.  Mostly I just want to talk about it because it's not one of the 'big name' episodes so people don't talk about it very much.  But for me, it's kind of an important episode.  It is I Only Have Eyes For You, the episode that made genderswap canon in BtVS.

There are two scenes in this episode that really 'make' the episode.

Exhibit A:

Buffy: He wants forgiveness.
Giles: Yes. I imagine he does. But when James possesses people, they act out exactly what happened that night. So he's experiencing a form of purgatory instead. I mean, he's, he's doomed to, to kill his Ms. Newman over and over and over again, and... forgiveness is impossible.
Buffy: Good. He doesn't deserve it.
Giles: To forgive is an act of compassion, Buffy. It's, it's not done because people deserve it. It's done because they need it.
Buffy: No. James destroyed the one person he loved the most in a moment of blind passion. And that's not something you forgive. No matter why he did what he did. And no matter if he knows now that it was wrong and selfish and stupid, it is just something he's gonna have to live with.

Exhibit B:

Buffy: I still... A part of me just doesn't understand why she would forgive him.
Giles: Does it matter?
Buffy: No. I guess not.

At its best, Buffy was a show about growing up that could, in some ways, help others do the same.  Maybe that's why I still consider it to be my favorite show, the one most important to me, even if I don't think it is necessarily the best show that I have seen (that might be Dexter, possibly).  I don't know if I can explain it, but there was something incredibly powerful about being twelve years old and hearing those words: "To forgive is an act of compassion, Buffy.  It's not done because people deserve it.  It's done because they need it."  Let me tell you, that sort of thing stays with you.  So there you have it.  "I Only Have Eyes For You" has never been one of my favorites, but it still delivered one of the most powerful moments of my formative years. 


( the rest of the meme )