The Devil's Elegy (Buffy/Angelus), R

[coalitiongirl]

Note: added everyone else who asked to the dull personal filter. Don't say I didn't warn you! ;)

Hey, remember when I promised a bunch of you babyfic? So...ta-daa! ...Except it's the wrong ship, the baby is Angel and Darla's, and there's not much of a focus on him at all. *hangs head* I fail at life. But I win at writing something before November

Comments

[slaymesoftly]

Didn't see a feedback thing on the page. But this works. Well done as always. Damn! You made me read Bangel again. *g* Not sure how I feel about it - you made it believable for me, but the Spuffyfan inside me was screaming - use a crossbow and shot that son of a bitch! LOL Excellent job of using Angelus and Conner to pull Buffy out of her post resurrection funk - that's really the only thing that made it work for me - that he was making her feel alive and she was self-aware enough to realize it. Love that she outsmarted him at the end, even if it did mean she got "her" Angel back and a relatively happy ending.

[coalitiongirl]

Heh, I think I'm incapable of writing Bangel with Spike around (without it becoming Spuffy or Spangel), so I make sure that Spike is gone and filter him out of my mind while I write. ;D

Thank you! I think the combination of nurture/danger functions well in S6, where both of those needs weren't quite as urgent in the actual series until Willow went dark and Buffy was trapped with Dawn. :)

[slaymesoftly]

*nods* I have a very hard time writing Spander (or Spike other of any sort) unless Buffy is safely and permanently out of the way. If she's alive and around, it just won't work. And any time I write Buffy/other it only lasts until she finds out Spike is alive. lol Stuck in rut, I am. :)

[coalitiongirl]

We're just very dedicated shippers! ;) Spuffy is just so firmly my endgame that I have trouble envisioning any other one when both characters are around. :)

[moscow_watcher]

Ow. It's brilliantly twisted and it hurts in all the right places. I wanted to shout "Buffy, stake the bastard!" so many times. The idea that, ultimately, it was her who used him is both disturbing and inspiring. After all, souled Angel used Darla to feel better. Why can't Buffy do the same?

Poor Spike. I understand that it's not his story, that with him around these events were harder to write, but still... poor him.

I can't stop thinking that you finished the story at the most intriguing moment. What happens to them after that? I guess, it's up to a reader's imagination - but if you plan to write the sequel, I'm the first in line to read it.

[coalitiongirl]

The Angelus/Buffy dynamic in later seasons is a concept that's always fascinated me, because it's been Buffy's innocence that Angelus has preyed on before, but she isn't quite as vulnerable now. (Although I do wonder if she was quite as motivated to destroy him in most of the story, or just near the end.)

(And Spike needs to be gone, or this is the perfect setup for a Spuffy fic with Angelus as the protagonist! Unacceptable! ;D)

No sequel for now, but I imagine it'd be angsty as Buffy and Angel discover that it's still not that easy. (And what about Connor? And Cordy?)

[ital_gal]

Well, I did comment over on IWRY, but just a quick note here again to say how great I thought it was. I felt for Buffy every single moment, and what a great idea to use the twin prods of fighting Angelus and taking care of Connor to bring her back from the post resurrection depression. You had me on the edge of my seat, I honestly did not know how it was going to go.

Good for Buffy for figuring out his plan. Good for you for leaving Angelus as Angelus. I never really buy those stories where he changes for lust or love or whatever. Love how you ALWAYS have the characters be true to themselves.

You know, you had a nice little BA ficlet (oddly, it's Spike that was the hero of that story ;)) that went up that weekend that LJ was down. It seems to have disappered, if you think about putting it up agaain..

[coalitiongirl]

Thank you again! Feedback has been sparse (busy week, I guess?) so double the reviews is wonderful. <3

I've had trouble before finding that line between Angelus-as-evil and Angelus-as-lover- it's most interesting when he's both, but too often the evil aspect is buried under the lover. :/ I'm glad it worked out this time!

Re: that fic- I wrote it late at night and realized shortly after that it needed serious editing, so I locked it. I may edit it sometime when I get a chance, but for now, I can unlock it for you, if you want... :)

[ital_gal]

thought it was already pretty good, love to see what you think makes it better, i'll wait... good things come to those of who..
thanks..

[coalitiongirl]

I tried editing, but I was still dissatisfied, so I opened it to flock instead for now. It's just so problematic. :/

[anviloverheaven]

Wow. I really enjoyed that! Turns out I actually am able to read stories outside my OTP without my head exploding. You know, as long as they're written by you :)

I kinda got suckered in by Angelus pretending to be Angel at the end! Thank heavens Buffy's not so silly. When I was reading it, I couldn't help but flashback to the scene in season two where he tells her she 'falls for it every time'. Guess not so much anymore :)

and yes, I squeaked out loud at the mention of Spike dust

[anviloverheaven]

Oh! And I also really liked the fic you mentioned in the post above, only I didn't get a chance to say so before it got locked.

[coalitiongirl]

Heh, I tend to make sure that my OTP is impossible before I start writing anything else. It's a mental block. (With one exception, that being the fic I took down last week.) Hence the Spike dust...and I suspect that Angelus would either dust Spike or subject him to some cruel torture for touching Buffy, so...

Buffy's all grown up now, and not quite as vulnerable to Angelus as she once was. It gives it a much more interesting dynamic when they're both on equal footing, and Buffy can fight back on Angelus's terms. :)

Oh! And I also really liked the fic you mentioned in the post above, only I didn't get a chance to say so before it got locked.

Thanks! There were some plot holes that I'll need to edit, but I'll try to get it back up sooner, now that I know that so many people have commented/messaged me about reading it...

[kean_herself]

I'm so happy you were able to contribute to this year's IWRY. :)

We talked about a lot of this in that enormous thread lol and it is really fascinating to read. I loved how Buffy became a mother to Connor, how he became hers and that led her out of her depression. The idea that Buffy needs a foe to inspire her is a wonderful thought. Your Angelus was great, much better than the Angelus we actually got in Ats S4. It makes me wonder if Buffy and Angelus actually, rather twistedly, bring the best out of each other?

Fabulous fic, hun! :)

[coalitiongirl]

Thanks! I'd spent the whole month trying to write a backup fic for the marathon, so I'm glad it was put to good use almost immediately. :)

Yep, a lot of this was inspired by that thread- though I do wish that I could have focused more on the Connor/mother aspect. Angelus just...takes over when he arrives, lol. And the idea of Buffy needing an equal opponent in S6 came to me mid-writing, and it's so true. She didn't have a real focus all season, nowhere to really release her frustration and find her role as slayer again- and it's only when Willow has her cornered that she begins to love the world again. She needs to fight for something, and without that, she's directionless in S6.

[kean_herself]

You could also explore the Connor/mother aspect in a sequel *whistle* :p

You are so right about her needing something to fight against, but it has to be something worthy of her. She needs to be inspired in some way by her opponent.

[coalitiongirl]

Heh, maybe, though I think she's already made it out of the woods. ;) A topic for another fic, perhaps! (I've done it twice in BA fic already, though. I may just keep this one gen. :/)

Exactly. The troika weren't opponents, they were annoyances. Not enough to give Buffy a focus.