Comments | seasonal_spuffy: Ficlet

clawofcat in seasonal_spuffy

Ficlet - Convergence

Oct 29, 2009 22:52

The fic that I've been working on for this round is still in development, but I didn't want to leave you all hanging without content, so here's a small offering. I hope to have my other fic finished for the Free For All.

Title: Convergence
Author: ClawofCat
Timing: S7
Rating: PG-13
Words: 603
Summary: Set during "Lessons," we learn more about Spike, the ( Read more... )

creator: clawofcat, form: fic, rating: other, era: btvs s7

Comments 47

petzipellepingo October 30 2009, 21:50:52 UTC

Sin or solace? What will she bring? Nowhere to hide, needs a costume, but there is nothing but the threadbare shirt, the honesty of his mutilated flesh. She took him battered and beaten once, forgave with a kiss, saw and knew his sacrifice. A blue fairy, his Buffy, is needed to declare his actions real.

Poor crazy, mixed up Spike; so broken and alone. You've done a great job showing just how tragic he was.

clawofcat October 31 2009, 00:19:38 UTC

Thanks. I'm glad that my interpretation of this period for Spike worked for you. Writing crazy characters is a bit of a gamble.

Given how crazy and mixed up he was, he sure seemed to get over it quick, too. I always thought that was a failing on the part of the writers. The transitional process was sort of skewed and made more complicated by the whole triggering subplot. It wasn't exactly able to unfold naturally.

evilawyer October 30 2009, 21:56:47 UTC

Very powerful.

clawofcat October 31 2009, 00:20:39 UTC

I'm glad you think so!

jen_nsync_landl October 31 2009, 02:55:49 UTC

Chilling and absolutely plausible as early S7 reality.

It’s just one of the innumerable faces he dreams of in the dark.

Love that line as the accompaniment for that first moment between them.

Well done.

clawofcat October 31 2009, 19:01:19 UTC

Thanks. I'm glad it worked for you. Writing fractured reality sometimes comes across well, and sometimes doesn't. I imagine the nightmarish state that I have Spike wading through here was disturbing and chilling for him, too. How frightening and disorienting it must be not to know if what you're seeing and hearing is real or not.

Love that line as the accompaniment for that first moment between them.
Much like Spike's fantasies about saving Buffy in all sorts of ways, along with his hallucinations of killing her, I think he must have also dreamt up various scenarios for their eventual meeting post-soul and how she would react to seeing him. Kinda like his dreams when he's taken hostage by the First and she rescues him.

twilightschild9 October 31 2009, 04:35:36 UTC

Amazing little piece. It flows like a dream, beautiful and scattered everywhere.

"He doesn’t hesitate with the gun this time. Big bad, big weapon and he blows a hole through her, the drop of her body on the porch like the crack of her back on the tub. The hole in her chest gurgles when she cries no, pushing at him as he forces himself in. Hand on her heart, teeth in her neck, cock in her cunt, he makes her see the real him." - I love the way you make him see himself. There was no getting around this part, just like there's no getting around the bathroom scene.

You're amazing, and I'm glad I got to see more of your writing.

clawofcat October 31 2009, 19:12:10 UTC

Omg, hey you! It's been forever! How are things?

And thanks for the kind words, TC. It flows like a dream, beautiful and scattered everywhere. - is what I was going for, except perhaps this nightmare is a hell of Spike's own making. When I was working on this I really wanted to capture that amazing melding of imagery that Joss & Co. tried to visually show us during the dreams in "Restless." Just like all the sets got pushed together so characters could run into and between familiar places, I tried to smush and twist similar memories of Spike's together to create this natural flow of thought. It's free association in a lot of ways.

I love the way you make him see himself.
I've always thought a key part of the soul vs. unsouled paradox in the Buffy verse is not just that these vampires feel tremendous guilt for their actions, but they gain insight into how others saw them. They come to understand who and what they were. When faced with the horrifying reality of how much suffering they inflicted, they turn that suffering on themselves ( ... )

penny_lane_42 October 31 2009, 15:24:08 UTC

Oh, wow. This reads like poetry, in that every single word is perfectly chosen and absolutely necessary. I usually try to pick out lines that especially appeal to me, but I can't do that here, because each one has so much meaning and symbolism and texture. And the emotion is just heartwrenching. This is beautiful.

clawofcat October 31 2009, 19:23:40 UTC

This reads like poetry, in that every single word is perfectly chosen and absolutely necessary...each one has so much meaning and symbolism and texture
Ah, no kinder words could be said about this piece. Thank you so much. I tend to write in short form - ficlets & one shots - so word usage and word economy are really important to me. If the space is limited, then the words have to have power to deliver the desired effect. I'm glad that the ones I chose here worked for you. Spike speaks with such lyricism and maintains a beautiful sense of dignity despite how broken he is in "Beneath You." I tried to capture that part of him here in the words.