Fic: William versus the Beast [1/1] PG

[baphrosia]

Title: William versus the Beast
Author: Baphrosia
Setting: pre-series - S4
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1330
Summary: William’s not happy about losing control of his body to a ravening, ravenous beast.
A/N: I don’t really subscribe to the spilt personality theory, but it’s interesting to explore.  I haven't posted in awhile, so let's hope I remember

Comments

[rebcake]

Ooooo. I also do not subscribe to the spilt personality theory, but this was very thought-provoking. I loved the language throughout - very William-y - and the imagery of

William hoarded his heart close, curled around his treasure, eyes gleaming and teeth bared. Hackles fully hackled.

is great. I also like the way you described the demon's less nuanced perception:

It didn’t understand love, not really, but it understood "special", and "not hurt", and "ours", although not well.

I always felt that the human and demon impulses were well integrated in Spike, but this theory that the chip enabled the human greater influence than previously is a good one.

What a great start to the round!

[baphrosia]

That's the fun thing about this fandom - there are so many angles you can take.

(Now you've got me thinking of another angle: Spike is in a situation where he's supposed to turn feral - Pylea, for example - and he just stays exactly the same. Because he's so well integrated.)

Thanks!

[passion4spike]

Awww, lovely ... poor William, but one day ... one day she'll tell him. Thanks for sharing!

[baphrosia]

Yes, she will! Thank you!

[rahirah]

Another non-split-personality person, me, but this is an interesting take on the idea nonetheless!

[baphrosia]

I don't think anybody in this community subscribes to the split personality...

Thank you!

[pfeifferpack]

I especially love the reason so much of William was there... his love for his mother and his refusal to move on completely. That makes a good deal of sense.

I like this look into Spike's psyche. I'm not into a split-personality view more symbiotic (the human bits mingling with the demon essence). I also am not a believer that the human is fully replaced as there are too many bits of evidence to the contrary. This works for Spike though no matter how you view it. William refused to completely leave his mother behind.

Well done!

Kathleen

[baphrosia]

I love how canon is so loose we can come up with a myriad of different explanations that all work. (And then we can pick our favorite one.)

That's a beautiful icon. Did you make it?

Thanks for the comments!

[pfeifferpack]

It is a beauty. Made for me as a gift by Tamakin. I miss Tam and her talent, life keeps her busy.

Kathleen

[the_wiggins]

I am also not a big fan of the "spilt personality theory", I'm with pfeifferpack in seeing it more as a sort of symbiosis. It's not that there's the demon and William or Spike, William and the demon, but rather that these are all elements that come together to make his personality. But I am also very interested in the multiplicity and contradictions in his character. So yeah, I found this an interesting and well written exploration. I can totally image the reason for his relative humanity being that the William part of him stuck around more than the human side of most vampires out of love for his mother and then was brought out further out of love for Buffy.

My favorite quote:
Bloody awful shite, but it was his, the only thing that was fully his for the first time in over a century. The beast had no interest in it, and so long as William confined himself to putting pen to paper, the beast let him be, too busy licking at its buzzing, crackling wounds with sullen indignation.

[baphrosia]

There's definitely something different about Spike that makes him interesting to write and explore from so many different angles.

Thank you!