Yay! Another chapter and it's early Sunday morning--what a treat to wake up to. On the other hand things appear to be getting dire as you veer back towards canon after this lovely Seattle interlude. I can't wait to see how you rewite S7 but I hope you avoid Spike's flamey, though temporary, demise--I'm not sure the pack could withstand that. Oh the anticipation....
Xander's brush with the First was really scary, very well written. Sent chills up my spine on this humid, hot Sunday morning. And hey, congratulations on the White Knight nominations! Very deserved! And I didn't know anything about this award, now I'm off to peruse the nominees to see what stories I've missed reading and to see if I should nominate anything that I don't see there.
p.s. I'd love to hear more about what Angel had to say to Spike...
Ooh, thank you!! That ep. 'Conversations with Dead People' had a very creepy arc of Dawn meeting the First, and i wanted to try and re-create it, kinda. Glad it worked!!
The past few chapters have consistently made me forget to breathe, this one being no exception, from Spikes nightmare to the family's panic to the First making a grand appearance. So easy to get completely caught up in the story.
The scene with Xander and Jess just gave me goosebumps very 'scary story by candlelight', if you know what I mean, excellent.
Just does not bode well for anyone concerned them having to return to the Hellmouth, I look forward to future chapters with anticipation.
Thank you! I'm so glad you liked it! 'Scary' is such an arbitrary thing for so many people, it's hard to really know if what you write is going to 'work' or not. I'm glas this did! *bounce*
Oh my god - sooo good! *cackles gleefully and pumps fist in air repeatedly*
I spent the whole week wondering how you were going to weave in the canon story arc from S7 - I had numerous theories and speculation, and yet again, you have surprised me. This chapter was so good and creepy - a great recreation of one of the few episodes I truly liked in S7. Though I'm getting about as impatient as Spike for this forgetting shite to finally be dealt with. Please tell me he's not gonna be the First's bitch again. Lie if you need to. Oh but I just realized, no Buffy working at Sunnydale High means no Wood, right? Right?
Seriously though, these last three chapters in particular have been so intense and gripping that I have to make a concious effort to breathe and relax my muscles when I'm done reading. Thank you!
BWAAAahahhaa. I never actually GOT why the first was all hot for Spike. I mean - so he turned a few people - there would have been TONS of vamps who would have done that! And - the whole kidnap and keep him for weeks thing? Never made ONE bit of sense. I need to read through transcripts of season seven to make sure i'm not missing something really important, but... *bounce* We'll see!!
That's just one of the many, many things which made no sense to me in S7.
On a side note, I was so engrossed in ch 15 last week that I paid no attention to the utensils I was carrying and ending up cutting my leg open! So you can see, Changes is in fact hazard to one's health. There should be warnings on the chapters, like cigarettes.
Oh dear lord!! Uh....just make it clear for me... How, exactly, did you cut yourself? I mean, you were WALING with a KNIFE and READING at the same time? That's worse than reading and drinking!!! *bad, bad, bad* :) Uh...sorry?
The Xander/Jesse ala the First moment? Left me breathless. Perfect to contrast Xander's guilt over Jesse's death with the fact that he's in love with a vampire. And I know I've said it before, but I love the pack. And your sense of detail is just amazing. Love this story! *bounce*
Hey thanks! I get so many comments on that one. Must say I love it! (Yours is great, too, I'm a poet girl at heart.) I got vamp bait from literati: http://www.liverjournal.com/users/literati/
Thanks! Without looking up it's info to be sure. I believe I picked up my icon from a Summer of Spike(LJ community)contributor.Please forgive my laziness.
Great twist on canon, here and thanks for bringing Jesse in as Xander's logical weak spot for TFE to exploit, as Angel is Spike's (one of the meh thing about season 7 as broadcast, was that TFE didn't appear as either of these people).
My husband interjected that The First would be in Medina, not on the Duwamish waterway but he's a computer tech support person, so, well, what can you expect.
(Julia, again)There's this really really big house in Medina, facing Lake Washington, just south of the Evergreen Point floating bridge, and tour boats go by and the tour guide says "There is Bill Gates' Mansion".
I mean, otherwise he'd be accusing Wells Medina Nursery of being a tool of TFE and I'm pretty sure he's gotten over the time I bought two hundred and fifty bulbs on sale there...
This was so delightfuly eerie. I loved the buildup to the appearance of the first -- very cinematic. The song on the radio, the lights going out, the link fading...wonderful. And the whole thing with Jesse -- one of the most underutilized plot points in the Spander-fic world. Nicely done, tabaqui.
Oh, that was marvellous! I always thought Xander should have had his moment with The First as Jesse. Jesse was the impetus behind his whole White Hat persona. He'd just killed his best friend because, hey, vampire! And he spent the next few years of his life fighting evil to re-affirm in his own mind that he did the right thing. (Deep, huh? *g*)
And that was Derio's first real unexpected experience of the link, wasn't it? Poor fiddler. Hee!
I did notice one homynym blooper: Oz and Derio where off doing something - should be 'were'.
Oh thank you!! I really wanted that 'confrontation' too, and i thought Jesse would be the logical choice. It suckes that they cheated us out of that in the show. I could have done without Dawn's encounter, as creepy as it was. Yup, poor fiddler! Hehe. Oops. *scampers to fix* Thanks!
Thank you for doing a Xander/The First encounter. I was so upset that they never explored that on the show. Hello, stake your best friend and the ultimatel evil doesn't use that to haunt the HEART of the group? Geez, bunch of 'tards!
The scene was amazingly done; the lighting and the radio? Major creepage, babe! And poor Derio, having to handle Spike's dream and The First all when the link/change is so new. :: pets her fave OC ::
BTW: Read your Pornathon entry. Sometimes w/ 3somes, my interest wanes; a lot of times they're hard to follow or just...sloppily written, but oh no, not here, nope and uh uh. Ripperesque Giles was so yummy. Plus, Janis, you gave a shout out to Janis! :: jumps up & down and hugs you ::
Oh yeah, and I have three words for you: Pommel. Horse. Guh.
Thank you! Yes, Xander needed his own encounter with the first and i always thought i'd have much rather seen him than Dawn, even though i based his on Dawn's and hers was very, very creepy. Oooh, i'm so glad you like Derio!! It's so hard to write an OC without them taking over stuff that the 'canon' people should be doing..... *bounce* Made my day!!
And thanks for the Rainy Day fb - i totally forgot about that challenge and wrote that in like...two hours. It needs a polish but yeah, it was SO FUN to imagine 'Band Candy' Giles just gettin' it on and being all...Ripper. Whoot! Thank you thank you. Pommel horse! I need an icon. BWAAAAAAAahhahhaha.
Ok yeah, really messed that up, huh? Stupid drowsifying allergy medicine. I meant to say: I'm working on one for ros_stillness and xanderstillness, but since I have a bit o'writer's block, I can easily do one for ya. Is there anything special you want? pics, quotes?
Oooh, man. Tell me about it. I take HALF the dose of the daytime 'non drowsy' stuff and i'm a total zombie. I mean, to the point where i'm asleep on my feet.
Ummmm. Damn. Seriously?? If you can make a pr0ny pommmel horse icon, i'll lurve you forever. If you can't then how 'bout a Spike/Xander/Oz OTP icon? Pics and whatnot i leave up to you. *bounce bounce* Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!
Heee Well, hugging DOES fix things. Right there with you on Jesse. The S7 storyline(s) never really worked at all for me - they just screwed it up too much, forgot too many things...ruined any respect i had for Buffy, really, although S6 had trashed her pretty much completely...
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chapter 16
Shakatany
Re: chapter 16
Thank you, though! Glad you liked it!
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Intense chapter, and wow I wanted to cry for the bois. Well done!
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:)
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p.s. I'd love to hear more about what Angel had to say to Spike...
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Hrmmmm...Angel and Spike... I would too!
Hehe.
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This installment was great and I now remember why I try to wait until Staurdays to read them. Now I have to wait a whole week for the next part! Argh!
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Hee.
*ahem*
Glad you liked it!
Glad it was creepy - i couldn't be sure!
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The scene with Xander and Jess just gave me goosebumps very 'scary story by candlelight', if you know what I mean, excellent.
Just does not bode well for anyone concerned them having to return to the Hellmouth, I look forward to future chapters with anticipation.
Thanks hun *g*
*smooch*
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I'm so glad you liked it!
'Scary' is such an arbitrary thing for so many people, it's hard to really know if what you write is going to 'work' or not.
I'm glas this did!
*bounce*
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*cackles gleefully and pumps fist in air repeatedly*
I spent the whole week wondering how you were going to weave in the canon story arc from S7 - I had numerous theories and speculation, and yet again, you have surprised me. This chapter was so good and creepy - a great recreation of one of the few episodes I truly liked in S7. Though I'm getting about as impatient as Spike for this forgetting shite to finally be dealt with. Please tell me he's not gonna be the First's bitch again. Lie if you need to. Oh but I just realized, no Buffy working at Sunnydale High means no Wood, right? Right?
Seriously though, these last three chapters in particular have been so intense and gripping that I have to make a concious effort to breathe and relax my muscles when I'm done reading. Thank you!
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I never actually GOT why the first was all hot for Spike. I mean - so he turned a few people - there would have been TONS of vamps who would have done that!
And - the whole kidnap and keep him for weeks thing? Never made ONE bit of sense. I need to read through transcripts of season seven to make sure i'm not missing something really important, but...
*bounce*
We'll see!!
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On a side note, I was so engrossed in ch 15 last week that I paid no attention to the utensils I was carrying and ending up cutting my leg open! So you can see, Changes is in fact hazard to one's health. There should be warnings on the chapters, like cigarettes.
Hee!
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Uh....just make it clear for me...
How, exactly, did you cut yourself? I mean, you were WALING with a KNIFE and READING at the same time? That's worse than reading and drinking!!!
*bad, bad, bad*
:)
Uh...sorry?
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:)
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So glad you liked!
*bounces with you*
cutting in on changes comments
Vampire Bait *snort*
Anytime you want to bait with Xander, I'll bite.
cutting in on changes comments
Vampire Bait *snort*
Anytime you want to bait with Xander, I'll bite.
Xander.....it's not just for vampires anymore.
Re: cutting in on changes comments
Re: cutting in on changes comments
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Wow...
Great twist on canon, here and thanks for bringing Jesse in as Xander's logical weak spot for TFE to exploit, as Angel is Spike's (one of the meh thing about season 7 as broadcast, was that TFE didn't appear as either of these people).
My husband interjected that The First would be in Medina, not on the Duwamish waterway but he's a computer tech support person, so, well, what can you expect.
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Yes, Xander should have had his moment with the first.
I think maybe Spike had his share, but none of them terribly interesting.
Tech Support, eh.
:)
*hee. Did he say WHY?*
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I mean, otherwise he'd be accusing Wells Medina Nursery of being a tool of TFE and I'm pretty sure he's gotten over the time I bought two hundred and fifty bulbs on sale there...
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Spawn of Satan.
Hee. twohundred fifty? You sure you're not a minion of eeevol??
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Q
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So glad you liked!
*bounce*
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Thank you.
:)
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And that was Derio's first real unexpected experience of the link, wasn't it? Poor fiddler. Hee!
I did notice one homynym blooper: Oz and Derio where off doing something - should be 'were'.
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I really wanted that 'confrontation' too, and i thought Jesse would be the logical choice.
It suckes that they cheated us out of that in the show. I could have done without Dawn's encounter, as creepy as it was.
Yup, poor fiddler!
Hehe.
Oops.
*scampers to fix*
Thanks!
*bounce*
Is it next week yet?
Re: *bounce*
Skeeered ya!!
No, it's not, stop PUSHING!!
I'm writing as fast as i can!!
:)
Re: *bounce*
No push no push:) *takes a big step back*
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The scene was amazingly done; the lighting and the radio? Major creepage, babe! And poor Derio, having to handle Spike's dream and The First all when the link/change is so new. :: pets her fave OC ::
BTW: Read your Pornathon entry. Sometimes w/ 3somes, my interest wanes; a lot of times they're hard to follow or just...sloppily written, but oh no, not here, nope and uh uh. Ripperesque Giles was so yummy. Plus, Janis, you gave a shout out to Janis! :: jumps up & down and hugs you ::
Oh yeah, and I have three words for you: Pommel. Horse. Guh.
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Oooh, i'm so glad you like Derio!! It's so hard to write an OC without them taking over stuff that the 'canon' people should be doing..... *bounce*
Made my day!!
And thanks for the Rainy Day fb - i totally forgot about that challenge and wrote that in like...two hours. It needs a polish but yeah, it was SO FUN to imagine 'Band Candy' Giles just gettin' it on and being all...Ripper. Whoot!
Thank you thank you.
Pommel horse! I need an icon.
BWAAAAAAAahhahhaha.
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Yes, you do. You really, really do!
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Lurver you Gun!Spike icon!!
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Hmmm...workin' on two icons right now (one for
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Ummmm. Damn. Seriously?? If you can make a pr0ny pommmel horse icon, i'll lurve you forever.
If you can't then how 'bout a Spike/Xander/Oz OTP icon?
Pics and whatnot i leave up to you.
*bounce bounce*
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!
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Whoot!
Anything is fine.
chchchchanges
And thank you for all the hugging in this storyline. I always thought seasons 6 and 7 just flat out needed more hugging.
Add my agreement to the more Jesse. The writers really did drop the ball on that one. Definately should have had that instead of the Dawn thing.
Re: chchchchanges
Well, hugging DOES fix things.
Right there with you on Jesse. The S7 storyline(s) never really worked at all for me - they just screwed it up too much, forgot too many things...ruined any respect i had for Buffy, really, although S6 had trashed her pretty much completely...
*bounce*
Thank you!!