Thanks, all, for reminding me that the strength and energy of BtVS fandom comes in large part from its diversity. Looking back (now that I've actually had a few hours sleep and have written the exam for my students that I was putting off working on last night), I'm reminded of the fact that a good fight (especially when it's ultimately understood to be all in good fun, like a killer game of cut-throat Scrabble) can be VERY therapeutic ("adrenaline is like exercise without the exorbitant gym fees" -- though the person credited with saying this was a whack-job, there's a lot of truth in it). And if we're going to move on as an enduring fandom (and I'm quite sure that we are), we will need to have figured out (even by laborious trial and error) the extent to which any one ship or slash pairing can represent the hope and promise and strength and vision we look for in the "Jossverse" as a whole. We have to push at all the boundaries and stretch some of our most prized metaphors to the breaking point, if we're ever to get beyond them, to what else this fandom has in store for us.

Oh, dear, am I babbling again?