BtVS Fic: In Absentia (1/3?)

[erinya]

Title: In Absentia
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel
Pairing/characters: Spike/Buffy, Spike/Illyria friendship
Warning: Character death
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: All my characters are belong to Joss.
Summary: He wouldn't have come to Rome, except that she was dead. Post-Chosen, post-Not Fade Away, integrates current Buffy Season 8, Spike:

Comments

[katiekat641]

Beautiful. I love it.

[erinya]

Thank you!

[rebcake]

"She was your mate," said Illyria. "So it was among the Old Ones." Her lips curved in reminiscence. "We fought when we met, great battles to the death that shook the earth and stirred the sea into a froth of ichor. But when one could not overcome the other, they would join together in copulation on the field of battle."

So true, Illyria. This is a funny way of showing Spike that epic love is always like that, not just in his case.

"I am the God-King of the Primordium. We honor the Slayer."

Leave it to Blue to know the correct way to approach a warrior's funeral.

"She, too, was a warrior. One of the same brood, the same power. But you do not consider human warriors to be fungible." Heh. I just love your Illyria. She's learned so much about us, but still has her own godly perspective

[erinya]

Thank you so much! It may come slow (I've got piles of school), but hopefully it will come.

I really enjoy writing Illyria. The intersection between her and Fred fascinates me, and she and Spike are fun together.

[penny_lane_42]

Good Lord. You write with style. I typically try to quote back all of my favorite lines when a I review a fic, but I couldn't possibly here, because nearly every line of this is both beautiful and blindingly insightful.

That first line was absolutely flawless--you grabbed me at once.

so he helped the damn helpless. Or maybe the helpless damned. He mostly couldn't tell the difference. Amazing lines.

I adore the paragraph about him watching her, straight on and sidelong...so beautiful and so true and so Spike.

The "you're intoxicated" scene between him and Illyria is brilliant--with her slipping into the guise of Fred, with her struggling to understand the way lower beings operate, if in a very detached way.

"A lovely but murderous substance. See, it matches your...everything." I adore this line more than I can tell you

[erinya]

Wow, thanks! I'm so glad you enjoyed it.

I really like writing interactions between Spike and Illryria. I'm interested in how they both exist between human and demon, with Spike being more of the one and Illyria more of the other, and how Fred is making Illyria into something more/different.

I also love Spike and Dawn's relationship...I wish they had more time together in this fic, but it wasn't going to work with the plot.

I laughed out loud at your author's note--I have exactly the same problem, but I sincerely hope you finish this, because it's truly gorgeous.

When it comes to finishing longer fics, I think I tend to write towards a certain moment, a certain scene, which is usually not the actual end of the story. And once I hit that sweet spot it's hard to stay motivated to wrap up the rest of it. There's a couple of those moments I haven't gotten to with this story, though, so hopefully there will be more to come.

Thanks so much for reading and for taking the time to write such a detailed comment!

[drakeazathoth]

Incredible work. You've definitely a way with words and your Spike-viewpoint seems more or less spot on. I also love your depiction of Illyria.

Poor Dawn. At least she's getting some play in the comics recently...

[erinya]

Thank you! I'm so glad you think Spike and Illyria are in character. Illyria can be especially tough sometimes. My only regret is that she doesn't have more to do in this story.

I'm eager to see where they're going with Dawn in the comics. I kind of skipped over the thricewise plot here--the assumption is it's set after all that resolves.

[stars_of_tears]

This is absolutely great! :)
Good style, interesting plot, I love the way you're putting the comics back together.
I hope your muse will keep inspired!

[erinya]

Great icon! I was just looking at that panel yesterday and thinking about what a great OT3 icon it would make.

Glad you enjoyed, and thanks for commenting!

[stars_of_tears]

If you want, the version without my name on it is there: http://stars-of-tears.livejournal.com/137601.html
Feel free to snag! :)