In Dreams ~ Drabble (2/4)

[clawofcat]

We continue on with part two of the series. This time William dreams...

Title: In Dreams (William)
Author: ClawofCat
Timing: Pre-Series
Rating: PG

William dreams of possession, a lover to put him first.

Like chess pieces he’s moved, circulated to each waiting hand, a high stakes poker chip to be won. Never a man, always a boy or a lad, he lives beneath

Comments

[sevendeadlyfun]

This one is interesting, but I found it a bit muddled. Canon tells us that William gave way fairly quickly to Spike, most likely as a defense mechanism against Angelus' cruelties. In that respect I think Spike and Drusilla are a great deal alike and that you point it out is both poignant and wonderful. In a a twisted way, I get a better sense of why the family fell apart after Angelus got his soul. He really was the bizarrely twisted glue that bound them all together

[clawofcat]

I envisioned this POV to be on the cusp of vamp William's transformation into Spike. I wanted to track his resolve to change and why he comes to his decision. I took a lot of the inspiration for this from the flashback scenes in "Destiny" and the first few days of William's existence in the family. He basically is mocked for his weakness and romantic fancies. He quickly learns that Drusilla, his "love," is anything but

[sevendeadlyfun]

After our discussion on the perils of concrit and how we don't do it, I've resolved to do it when I think its appropriate. Sometimes someone writes porn just to write porn and so they don't particularly care if I think the characterization is off. It's a fap fic and that's all. And I do love those, don't get me wrong

[clawofcat]

After our discussion on the perils of concrit and how we don't do it, I've resolved to do it when I think its appropriate.
Good plan. Snowy asked me a few weeks ago to concrit her Faith/Connor fic, and i felt a little weird doing it since it was on her LJ that we had the discussion. But she assured me it was all good and actually went back to revise because of my comments. In those instances you feel good about being able to help out.

eleventy!LMAO. Eleventy? My dad sometimes uses that in jest when he tries to come up with a large number. Like, eleventy billion. Has someone actually ever said eleventy in comments before? Cause that would be hilarious and sad

[ginnyrules2]

I like it. William was obviously on the brink of becoming Spike. I think you managed to say a lot in just a few words. I like also how you pointed out, no matter how much Spike loves Dru, Angel(us) comes between them. I think its pretty good.

[clawofcat]

Thanks! It's tough mushing a bunch of character insight into 225 words. Hence, the experiment part of this. But I'm glad that you thought it worked. I think there are a lot of parallels to draw between Spike and Dru, and their relationship with Angelus. I actually hadn't been quite as aware of them before writing this.

[zoesmith]

Oh I can definitely see this happening early, when William was first turned and Angelus "taught" him how to be a badass vampire.
And then Spike was born!

I really like your writing honey, very beautiful.

[clawofcat]

Thank you. It's been interesting for me to try and work through each of these characters, especially because I don't write any of them a ton. I've been a bit stuck on Angelus. He's all about possession, so to pinpoint any one thing or person has been somewhat difficult.

[eowyn_315]

You know, I read this and I liked it, but there was something I couldn't quite put my finger on, which I think sevendeadlyfun has pretty much addressed.

But I think, even if it could use a little tweaking, there's still some really nice observations here. Forever is meaningless, devalued and mocked, so transience becomes his new god...His veneer is his shield, his only defense, the daring, impetuous cad. - this is a fitting description of him becoming Spike. I think some people see Spike as rash and impetuous by nature, but in a way it's as much of an act as the cocky swagger routine. The devil-may-care attitude was never who he was as a human, and really didn't come through until he started going by Spike. (He also seems to lose it a bit once he's in love with Buffy.)

an eternity of loneliness his one fearI agree, he's terribly afraid of being alone - but I don't think it stops at romantic relationships. It's that same fear that makes him throw in with the Scoobies once he's chipped, and the reason he sticks around with Angel and

[hello_spikey]

aaaaaws. *snuggles the William*

Poor guy.

I liked this. I think you hit some very good points - he does fear loneliness, we see that clearly, poor thing, and he does always end up unequal in his relationships.

[clawofcat]

Thank you! Trying to hit on key characterization points in 250 words or less is quite challenging! But I've been enjoying the exercise. I'm a wee bit stuck on Angelus' though. What to focus on when that evil bastard lives and breathes possession?