Fic: In the Wolf's Mouth (Willow, PG13)

[brutti_ma_buoni]

The ficathon has been delayed for a month, but my fic is done and I feel better when they are posted rather than lurking on the hard drive so I thought I'd post today. If you've read my Willow fic Triplicate, this is a semi-sequel, though it's more securely set in the Rulesverse than its predecessor.

Title In the Wolf's Mouth
Author Brutti ma

Comments

[gillo]

So, now I know the Italian for "ram"!

Poor Willow- it's so horribly plausible that she would think herself strong enough to control the evil magic and be taken by it. Her fate is sad, but very believable, the only way to protect her as well as the world.

I love the bits about her flying, and the magic taking over. The eagle controlled the magicks. Fought demons. Kept the wolf, the ram and the hart under surveillance, and struck mercilessly when they strayed from their accepted territories. works particularly well - as does the hint that in a way Willow herself kept from the rest of the magic the fact that the "insignificant" people would find a way to beat her.

[brutti_ma_buoni]

Um, you now know Google transator's word for ram. This may not hold up IRL. My mini Italian dictionary doesn't run to farm animals!

Glad the fic worked for you! I wanted to write Willow cracking badly, but I couldn't have her irredeemable due to later fics.

[slaymesoftly]

Excellent job. Great, and quite likely someday, Willow. Hoping she can slip back into geekdom and find some self-worth in just being Willow - brilliant, caring woman.

[brutti_ma_buoni]

Thank you! I'm glad the crack-up read realistically to you. In my head, Willow has a bad few years, but her relationship with Oz and Talia starts to turn the corner. I might revisit that though, if I start to write a later time of real crisis for the Council.

[rebcake]

Cordelia called the insurance brokers to make certain they were covered for Act of Witch.

All the little bits where "Willow didn't like" and "Willow didn't want" and the implied "Willow wasn't taking care of herself" are pretty crafty. She can't face her complicity directly, which is Willow, and why she has to have a muzzle and a sitter. Of course, Buffy and Giles don't want to face it either, until they must.

Somehow, they were already negotiating the terms of her surrender. Willow wasn't waving the white flag.

Wonderful stuff!

Edity bit: More so thatn some enemies we have...

[brutti_ma_buoni]

Thanks (esp for the edit). This damaged Willow interests me a lot; it was time the Rulesverse got a little more difficult, too, I think.

[ares132006]

Willow's addiction is magic and like most addicts she thinks she can control it until, ultimately, it controls her.

I loved this story, how Buffy and Giles were tiptoeing around her, until they had to step in and save Willow and the world...again.

So Willow volunteered for amputation. Oh, poor Willow.
However, it was nice to see that something of her filled in those empty spaces. Loved the last line.

[brutti_ma_buoni]

Thanks so much! The terrible thing to me is that they carried on using Willow now and later - because they had to, though they didn't trust her at all. In my head, she has a bad few years, but it still needed to happen.

[bobthemole]

You make Willow so interesting! I never got such a rich experience of Dark Willow's mind and motivations from canon. The fall-out between Buffy and Willow (sweet homework-buddy Willow) is heart-breaking.

[brutti_ma_buoni]

Good! I'm glad this takes you on from canon. I thought the magic had the power to be so interesting but it just came out trippy onscreen. Glad to be able to do a bit more here. But the outcomes for Willow and Buffy are tragic. I do think they get past it (I know they do, I wrote the later stories...) but it's on a shaky basis of mistrust for a long time. In some ways that's why I wanted to write Willow in a 3 person relationship later - she needs a *lot* of support now!