As I touched on in previous comments, the whole concept was sparked by dissonance: your story was titled “Honesty”, but Buffy wasn’t honest in her initial approach. I saw this not as ‘wrong’ — she did a bad thing there — but as a potentially disastrous mistake. When feelings are involved, clear communication (honesty) is paramount. It’s the people we care about who can hurt us most, because they’re the ones whose actions and attitudes matter to us.
As I recall, even if it aired later, “Earshot” actually preceded the prom, so theoretically that opportunity has already passed. Of course, the changes brought about by the single change of Xander giving an unexpected answer, could have moved Buffy to miss the telepathic demons on an earlier patrol, with the possibility of encountering them later … but, as you observed, it would be so much simpler for this version of Buffy to just jettison her previous unproductive approach and simply tell the truth for a change.
There really wasn’t much excuse for my taking as long as I did to finish this, but I’m glad at least that you’re not dissatisfied with the result. Thanks.
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Date: 2016-12-31 07:28 pm (UTC)As I recall, even if it aired later, “Earshot” actually preceded the prom, so theoretically that opportunity has already passed. Of course, the changes brought about by the single change of Xander giving an unexpected answer, could have moved Buffy to miss the telepathic demons on an earlier patrol, with the possibility of encountering them later … but, as you observed, it would be so much simpler for this version of Buffy to just jettison her previous unproductive approach and simply tell the truth for a change.
There really wasn’t much excuse for my taking as long as I did to finish this, but I’m glad at least that you’re not dissatisfied with the result. Thanks.