Ah, the dangers of commenting before I read the whole thing. I must have sounded like an idiot to you talking about the vision!daughter tie in.

In any case, isn't it interesting how those of us who love to write Xander seem intent on torturing him either physically or mentally? Some take it to extremes but most of us do it to some extent.

My reading of Xander has always been that he takes a certain amount of pride in being "merely" human. I like that his reaction here is horror. It doesn't even cross his mind to wonder what kind of nifty powers he may have. I do love the "Live with it I guess" line. It's very much a sign of a mature Xander.