Winter Lights [2/6]

[the_moonmoth]

Title: Winter Lights [2/6]
Media: fanfiction & fanart
Creators: the_moonmoth, wolveswithhats, kylathelurker, bewildered
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Buffy, Dawn, Giles, Andrew, OFC
Pairings: Buffy/Spike
Setting: Set shortly after ‘The Girl In Question’ and imagining it took place a little earlier than its air date.
Length: ~18,000 total (each chapter

Comments

[sandy_s]

No commemorative patches for Buffy’s adventures, not unless you count the kind that hold guts in, and they probably wouldn’t look so good on her carry-on.

Love this turn of phrase...

I see what you mean about this being a grief piece...wow, it's weighty...in a good way.

And goodness, you know about Alaska, too? I'm so impressed! :o) I like the idea of placing Buffy in a frozen wasteland while her mind is there, too...breathtaking.

Sorry it's taking me so long to read...I'm on my lunch break.

[the_moonmoth]

Ha ha, all I know about Alaska is what I learned through documentaries, books and web searches :) I wanted her to go into the cold, for the metaphor of her own inner wasteland, and I wanted her to go with another slayer who was native to that part of the world. In terms of knowing even a little bit of information, my options were Alaskan or Canadian Inuit, or Norwegian Sami, and in the end I preferred the emotional resonance of Buffy returning to US soil. So then I hit the research - one of the reasons it took me a year to produce this fic.

[rahirah]

Ooh, this is a neat concept! (The obsolete Slayers, that is.) I don't think I've ever seen a fic that handles it quite this way before.

[the_moonmoth]

Thank you :) I always like it when I can surprise you!

[tei_lj]

...aaaaand suddenly I want allllll the fic about retired nurse vampire slayers.

I love your description of Alaska. There's something about feeling sad and alone in the extreme cold that is bleaker than feeling sad and alone, well, in California or Rome or any of that places Buffy's lived.

[the_moonmoth]

I know right? Pfeifferpack mentioned that she wrote a story about a woman in a nursing home who got called after Chosen, but I've yet to track it down...

There's something about feeling sad and alone in the extreme cold

I wrote a lot of this through last winter, which was a record-breaker for snowfall here in Boston, so yes, that is exactly right.

[rebcake]

turning up her own smile a couple notches. Adds a sharp scimitar edge to it

I'm not sure how I feel about this armored-to-the-hilt Buffy, but I do know I love that you weaponized this description.

Speaking of self-protection, Bridget may have Buffy beat. Is this a Slayer trait? Perhaps it's that of any front-line soldier, really.

The high school paper was cringe-worthy, indeed, but I'm glad Buffy managed to (just) avoid the sticky goo of the word "exotic". It's going to be hard going with this one, but the Buffster's charm offensive is hard to resist, should she choose to employ it.

[the_moonmoth]

I love that you weaponized this description.

And I love that phrase. Thanks!

I'm glad Buffy managed to (just) avoid the sticky goo of the word "exotic".

*snicker* That's one of my favourite parts of the story. I love Buffy, but she has the ignorance and privilege typical of someone of her upbringing, and has blundered into racially offensive words or actions a number of times in the past, so I couldn't resist taking a dig at her here ;)

[shapinglight]

The 'obsolete' concept is very interesting. Not come across anything like it in fanfic before.

[the_moonmoth]

Thank you!