With Spike and Cordelia, the BtVS masters of snark, there was no avoiding lots of back-and-forth, and why would I have wanted to? And I love a good action sequence, I always have; the challenge is to make each one fit the situation, and fit the characters, and not just be the same old scene over and over. Fortunately, the characters themselves dictate a lot of how this goes: Spike-and-Cordelia here are clearly different from Spike-and-Cordelia in “ Oaxaca Nights”, because their situations and capabilities have altered from one time to the next.
It was fun, and more work than I expected, but I enjoyed the result, and I’m happy that you liked it as well.
I Hadn't Thought About This Story In A WhileeilandesqNovember 2 2014, 06:11:43 UTC
I particularly liked the extra depth added to Cordelia and Spike, and the expanded scale of the fight in the lair. Promoting the amulet from a MacGuffin in a one-shot story (with the reader probably having the suspicion that "Status Quo Is God" would result in its failure offscreen) to a major element in the Buffyverse continuity works well, too.
Then of course the one important thing that Spike should have realized: Don't piss off Cordelia--particularly trained up, deeply focused Cordelia. The results can be grim.
This story was actually begun years ago: I was going to do it for RemixRedux 7, but got bogged down, couldn’t figure where to go next, and abandoned it to write “Family Skeletons” for you instead. Looking back at it later, though, I still liked the opening, so I just spent a few years thinking about it, looking for the opportunity to take another go when the time was right.
It was also delayed by my already intending to do “ Oaxaca Nights”, and wanting to make sure the two stories were properly distinguishable, especially since I planned for both to fit into my Backstage Series. Got that one out of the way in December ’12, and I actually shaped this year’s Circle of Friends to give me a shot at finishing this one for you.
Once I got to doing the story itself, the whole thing wound up being significantly longer than I originally expected - thus the day-late posting - but the funny thing is that I didn’t have any more happen than first intended. It just had to be done right, and that took time and space, and
( ... )
You have a real talent for Spike and Cordelia back and forth. It's interesting because in my head they are part of a category of Buffy characters I call truthsayers that includes Spike, Cordelia and Anya. They don't care about social conventions, they don't care about hurt feelings, they speak the truth as they see it. Which makes interaction between Spike and Cordelia particularly delicious especially as we got so little of it in canon. Cordelia wary rather than dismissive worked for your story very well.
The hooks into canon were quite finely crafted as well.
I enjoyed this a great deal. Thank you for another fine installment of the Buffyverse legacy.
On the ‘truthsayers’ observation, you raise a point I hadn’t thought about, and on consideration I have to start drawing distinctions. From that perspective, the three of them would fall on a continuum: Anya genuinely doesn’t care what people think; Cordelia has quite a bit of that heedlessness, but a full willingness to use the truth to hurt; and for Spike, aggression is the main focus of almost everything he says/does, and he’ll lie just as readily as tell the truth as long as it inflicts the desired wound.
These two do make an interesting pair in terms of verbal fencing, though, don’t they? Especially when - as wasn’t the case in “Oaxaca Nights” - Spike is unable to use overwhelming physical menace as a final trump.
And ‘little’ canon interaction? Try almost none. Spike and Cordelia never spoke to one another on Buffy, and in fact didn’t even meet except indirectly in the “Hallowe’en” episode (she was there among the prospective victims, but as always he was focused on Buffy). On Angel, their interplay consisted of 1) a few mild
( ... )
Great characterizations, and great twist at the end. (I mean that she did all that to save Spike, not the holy water prank. Though that was evilly done too. I guess with having to do all that to save Spike chaffing at her, she had to get him back somehow.)
Thank you. Somehow, even while working out the other details, I always knew Cordelia would find some way to get in a parting shot at Spike; and, if prophecy made it unworkable for her retribution to be fatal, she’d just have to settle for painful and humiliating.
As far as characterization goes, Spike isn’t really difficult for me, I simply keep in mind that during the two and a half years he spent ‘helping’ the good guys before he went haring off for a soul, he was still evil. He kept telling them so, he was proud of it, he got offended if they ever forgot it … hence, his snarky but genuine appreciation of Cordelia’s not forgetting it. Cordelia is a little trickier for me, because her character went through such a lengthy evolution, I always have to be sure I’ve captured the right flavor for Cordelia at a particular time. (Spike’s own evolution was even more detailed, but at this stage it remained relatively simple: still chafing at the limitations of the chip, just past the attempted double-cross with Adam, grudgingly on the side
( ... )
Great story, very well fleshed. You have a precise way of writing, detailed and analytical. The characters, as you've written them are, I think, very true to the timeline and their interaction very canon. Spike had only begun his journey and was still quite evil and resentful. I love that little glimpse offered when he asked why Cordelia hated him, of both of them. This is truly fleshing characters.
The revelation of the reason the amulet was needed was well done. Such a Cordelia action, to care, to accept her apparent demise but still do what she could to save those she cared for. Now I want to know how Lilah got it, :D.
The original story was a good read and here, you've taken it and made it your own while remaining true to the remix philosophy.
The final paragraphs - so Cordy! Serves the smug idiot right and a perfect response from him!
This is deeply gratifying. As with “ Oaxaca Nights”, I put a great deal of consideration into the personalities of Cordelia and Spike at this point in their histories, and it never hurts to be told that I accomplished what I set out to do.
Eiland’s original gave me plenty of room to work with, and I was happy to do what I could with the possibilities I could see.
The ending? That was always there, almost from the first I knew how the story would conclude. Because Cordelia does hold a grudge, and is something less than shy about acting on it …
Thanks you. Your approval is sincerely appreciated.
Comments 12
Gabrielle
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It was fun, and more work than I expected, but I enjoyed the result, and I’m happy that you liked it as well.
Reply
Then of course the one important thing that Spike should have realized: Don't piss off Cordelia--particularly trained up, deeply focused Cordelia. The results can be grim.
Nice work.
Warmest Regards,
M. Scott Eiland
Reply
It was also delayed by my already intending to do “ Oaxaca Nights”, and wanting to make sure the two stories were properly distinguishable, especially since I planned for both to fit into my Backstage Series. Got that one out of the way in December ’12, and I actually shaped this year’s Circle of Friends to give me a shot at finishing this one for you.
Once I got to doing the story itself, the whole thing wound up being significantly longer than I originally expected - thus the day-late posting - but the funny thing is that I didn’t have any more happen than first intended. It just had to be done right, and that took time and space, and ( ... )
Reply
The hooks into canon were quite finely crafted as well.
I enjoyed this a great deal. Thank you for another fine installment of the Buffyverse legacy.
Reply
These two do make an interesting pair in terms of verbal fencing, though, don’t they? Especially when - as wasn’t the case in “Oaxaca Nights” - Spike is unable to use overwhelming physical menace as a final trump.
And ‘little’ canon interaction? Try almost none. Spike and Cordelia never spoke to one another on Buffy, and in fact didn’t even meet except indirectly in the “Hallowe’en” episode (she was there among the prospective victims, but as always he was focused on Buffy). On Angel, their interplay consisted of 1) a few mild ( ... )
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As far as characterization goes, Spike isn’t really difficult for me, I simply keep in mind that during the two and a half years he spent ‘helping’ the good guys before he went haring off for a soul, he was still evil. He kept telling them so, he was proud of it, he got offended if they ever forgot it … hence, his snarky but genuine appreciation of Cordelia’s not forgetting it. Cordelia is a little trickier for me, because her character went through such a lengthy evolution, I always have to be sure I’ve captured the right flavor for Cordelia at a particular time. (Spike’s own evolution was even more detailed, but at this stage it remained relatively simple: still chafing at the limitations of the chip, just past the attempted double-cross with Adam, grudgingly on the side ( ... )
Reply
The revelation of the reason the amulet was needed was well done. Such a Cordelia action, to care, to accept her apparent demise but still do what she could to save those she cared for. Now I want to know how Lilah got it, :D.
The original story was a good read and here, you've taken it and made it your own while remaining true to the remix philosophy.
The final paragraphs - so Cordy! Serves the smug idiot right and a perfect response from him!
Your last line is perfect! Thanks for sharing.
Reply
Eiland’s original gave me plenty of room to work with, and I was happy to do what I could with the possibilities I could see.
The ending? That was always there, almost from the first I knew how the story would conclude. Because Cordelia does hold a grudge, and is something less than shy about acting on it …
Thanks you. Your approval is sincerely appreciated.
Reply
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