From the Withered Tree (BA Rosebuds prompts)

[coalitiongirl]

 Written for (surprise!) ba_rosebuds , five ficlets to five prompts.

Title: From the Withered Tree
Pairing: Buffy/Angel
Rating: PG-13

Summary: He thinks she's dead. But it's much, much worse, and now he has to deal with a Buffy he's never really known. (Warning: vamp!Buffy)

Comments

[norwie2010]

Is there a reason why all Your Bangel fics are in Angel's headspace?

(and Buffy's always "the lost little girl"? :-P )

Ok, onto more serious notes: You write beautifully, as always. Really, while the content doesn't win me over, Your style does it every time.

(and the ending is always sugar coated? :-P)

[coalitiongirl]

Angel perceives Buffy as lost because she tends to be pretty lost in the moments I write them. Now, BA in the middle of S7/AtS S4...there Angel would be the lost one, undoubtedly.

(and the ending is always sugar coated? :-P)

'Tis the BA style! SB will end with grim depression, but that doesn't pull it in BA- they're all about the happily ever after. :)

Thank you for reading! Don't feel like you have to, just 'cause I thank you a lot. ;) And today, I actually *gasp* started an SB fic! I had to scrap it, but I'm getting there, kind of...

[norwie2010]

Well, honestly - i did put off reading Your first BA fic for a while. But then i reminded myself of all the beautiful things You wrote and i thought "heck, am i really that kind of a coward?!" ;-)

Oh, the best part already self destructed! But i wont tell, i promise. ;-)

[coalitiongirl]

Hey, give me another nuanced ship with this much wasted potential and I'd write it! But BA nearly trumps Spuffy when it comes to missed opportunities, and I don't get the same sense that it's all been written already from BA. :)

[moscow_watcher]

Beautiful story. It's very dark in the beginning, so the happy ending is a bit unexpected- but it works nicely. I envy your ability to find the right words to describe undescribable; I love how you dance around the word "shanshu" without naming names.

[coalitiongirl]

SB is all about grim endings that can also be beginnings. BA seems to be more about the happy ending- the fairytale realized at last. I'm regretting that last one a bit, now, because I'm very happy with the first three ficlets and the last two don't feel as strong, but as I just told Norwie, I'm probably overcompensating on the schmoopiness because I worry that BA is going to get a rough deal, since I'm a non-shipper. *sigh* Ah, well, Shoeshine over there is endgame for Angel, so it may as well be for Buffy, too, though I'm tempted to write two alternate endings, one in which just Angel gets it, and one in which just Buffy does. :)

[slaymesoftly]

I can't believe you're still conning me into reading B/A. I can't say I've read them all, but this one sucked me in. Since there's no mention of Spike, I've chosen to believe he's gone forever. That's pretty much the only way S/O or B/O can work for me - but if one or the other is dead, then I want to see the survivor be happy.
Very well done. The joint shanshu may have been a little schmoopy for my taste - but that could just be my overreaction to all the sugar I've been wading in lately. :)

[coalitiongirl]

Yup, it's all my fault. You see Buffy/____ on your flist and automatically assume that it's Buffy/Spike...and then it's like... "Hey, where's Spike? Askjf ANGEL GET AWAY FROM HER!" *grins* Spike is gone for good in this fic, only because he needed a break after the last one, poor guy. :( He's very happy with nun!Drusilla or Anya or someone else in some soul-filled paradise. :D

The joint shanshu may have been a little schmoopy for my taste - but that could just be my overreaction to all the sugar I've been wading in lately. :)

:) Joint Shanshu is about as schmoopy as it gets...but with BA, they generally need that fairytale ending.

[slaymesoftly]

"they" meaning Buffy and Angel, or "they" meaning the people who want to read B/A?

[coalitiongirl]

They meaning Buffy and Angel. It's always struck me as that type of pairing- they need their happy ending for a piece to really be shippy.

[ares132006]

I loved the progression the five rosebuds made. You handled the vamping of Buffy perfectly. I do like to get into the emotions of this couple. Spot on for how Angel and Buffy would feel if Buffy was vamped. Her desperation, her despair, her sense of right and wrong was a blade to Angel's heart, and his love for her was put to the test. I liked how you handled it.

And btw, I have read plenty of B/A fics that end badly, for one or the other of them. You can find some of them in the archives of IWRY. There aren't many, but they are there. And also at The Scribes of Angel. To me, a good story doesn't necessarily have to have a happy ending, as long as it's written well and drawn me in. (I do like to have Angel left alive though. :0) )

Librarian2003 has written a few, you can find her stories at her site Angel Texts. Her story "Bones" is a fine example of an unhappy ending.

http://www.octavesoftheheart.com/angeltexts/bones.htm

[coalitiongirl]

Thank you! :) I'm a sucker for a happy ending, and as I mentioned in some other responses to reviews, I'm probably also overcompensating on the happy because I'm not a shipper. ;) I've since rewritten the final ficlet of this collection to something a bit more bittersweet that suits me more, but I don't think I'm experienced enough with this ship to write a genuinely bad ending for them. :\

[ever_neutral]

You angst-queen, you. ♥ This is gorgeous work.

For the record, I'm perfectly happy if you want to go for the soul-destroying ending over the schmaltzy one. I tend to see both S/B and B/A as 'bittersweet ending' ships. :)

[coalitiongirl]

Thank you! Angst is such fun, and I've got no patience for fluff... ;D And I appreciate your feedback on the edit- I'm a bit happier with this ending, but I'm still not quite satisfied... :\