Trying to think through fanfic, I've found myself thinking a great deal about Spike (and Buffy) again and -- as always -- trying to figure out what makes each of them tick. And, the ever interesting thing is that they are both complex enough and contradictory enough to take that kind of overthought and analyzation. There's no set answer, just interpretations, which is cool for fanficcing.
Anyway in response to
shapinglight's current post
elisilinked to this
Post-Damage essay by
the_royal_anna. It's worth a read. I found it quite interesting.