I came across this quite accidentally and oh, I am so glad I did! This is one of my favorite types of fic, you know, when an author shows me some dark, gritty part of a character that you just know has always been there—and I wonder why I’ve never seen it or cared about it before.
Oh Cordy. She’s such a teenager and she’s faced so much darkness unflinchingly and seeing something that isn’t Hellmouth fare but still horrible—well, it has to mess with her head. I love how you phrased it , like it’s a vision she wants exorcised (‘cause we all know what’s coming). And Faith! Heartbreaking mix of denial and terror and tenderness and hard-as-nails right there.
The smell of Xander’s fear tickled a part of Angel that he couldn’t and wouldn’t describe to Buffy or Giles. And so he kept walking him home. This. I really, really love how you wrote Angel’s section. There’s wariness yes, always, but also this unspoken solidarity. And then Angel walks him home—almost like it’s the least he can do.
I really, really like the whole guy-solidarity feel of Oz too and Oz ‘actively not looking’- well said because that’s so like him. Makes me wonder how many more secrets that boy keeps and knows that he wouldn’t ever tell.
And Spike’s section—I love that it’s almost hilarious, a typical Spike-Xander exchange (Gilmore Girls! Too funny!)—but you put in Xander’s parents and it’s also horrific. It’s also perfect that it comes at the end because at that point Spike is neutral (or yeah, evil) about it, but we the readers, who love Xander, are not.
Okay. Rambled on quite a bit there. But I truly thought it was amazing and one for the memories!
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Date: 2010-01-16 04:27 pm (UTC)Oh Cordy. She’s such a teenager and she’s faced so much darkness unflinchingly and seeing something that isn’t Hellmouth fare but still horrible—well, it has to mess with her head. I love how you phrased it , like it’s a vision she wants exorcised (‘cause we all know what’s coming). And Faith! Heartbreaking mix of denial and terror and tenderness and hard-as-nails right there.
The smell of Xander’s fear tickled a part of Angel that he couldn’t and wouldn’t describe to Buffy or Giles. And so he kept walking him home.
This. I really, really love how you wrote Angel’s section. There’s wariness yes, always, but also this unspoken solidarity. And then Angel walks him home—almost like it’s the least he can do.
I really, really like the whole guy-solidarity feel of Oz too and Oz ‘actively not looking’- well said because that’s so like him. Makes me wonder how many more secrets that boy keeps and knows that he wouldn’t ever tell.
And Spike’s section—I love that it’s almost hilarious, a typical Spike-Xander exchange (Gilmore Girls! Too funny!)—but you put in Xander’s parents and it’s also horrific. It’s also perfect that it comes at the end because at that point Spike is neutral (or yeah, evil) about it, but we the readers, who love Xander, are not.
Okay. Rambled on quite a bit there. But I truly thought it was amazing and one for the memories!