lirazel | The Greatest Meme Ever

Ooh! I'm going to go with Empty Men, partly because of Dawn and Miss Kitty Fantastico, but mostly because of the death scene.

Well, since I've never been much of one to get overly sentimental about animals, it made sense that I would be the one who actually wrote the infamous Miss Kitty Fantastico versus Crossbow scene. It was supposed to be a drabble, and it started out humorous (I'm evil and heartless). But then it took a more serious turn, and it ended up making sense to have it be the moment when Miss Kitty was speared through with the arrow that Dawn would think about when she found Tara's body. The parallels between the accidental death from such weapons just wouldn't leave me alone, so I had to explore them.

It was kind of emotionally draining to write, but I just love writing Dawn so much that it was totally worth it.

Gotta go with Silence Speaks. Any story that starts with the spell from Hush not being broken is one I'm dying to read. Oh, but you already know why i love it!

Well, of course you love it! I got to write Anya being ridiculously inappropriate and finding new ways to make suggestive comments without actually speaking--which really tested the boundaries of my creativity, you know, since I'm not a very filthy-minded person. And I know you were always fond of the fact that when they couldn't talk to fill the silence, of course Buffy and Riley would figure out that they didn't have any passion in their relationship, and he'd take off a good deal earlier. And the scene with Tara teaching Willow sign language? Well, I think it managed to be pretty sensual without being explicit, you know? Plus, I got to describe lots more Giles-is-a-terrible-artist scenes, which are always my favorite. And then there's the Spike-and-Buffy scenes....But why don't you just go reread them instead of letting me ramble on like this!

No, no! Tell me more about the Spike and Buffy scenes! :D

Weeeelllll...how was he going to seduce her if he couldn't speak? That was the big challenge, once I wrote the scene where he walks in on her in the shower because she couldn't yell to let him know someone was in the bathroom (trying to figure out a way to get Buffy to take a shower at Giles's house was torturous, by the way) and he realizes he wants to seduce her. So of course I had to write a fight-scene-that-turns-into-a-sex-scene without it being derivative of "Smashed." Challenging stuff!

It's a pretty fanon fic, what with Buffy and Spike getting together so much earlier than they ever really would have, but I'm glad you enjoyed it anyways!

*whimpers*

*wants to read this fic so bad, because it hits all my S4 Spuffy buttons so hard*

*whimpers some more*

Haha! That's the absolutely worst thing about this meme, isn't it? Now there are all these stories that I want to read so badly but that don't exist!

I'm glad I could hit your buttons, even if only in description form!

I just wrote an idea for

deird1 that I'm kinda in love with. Oh, man. Why can't these fics just write themselves?

I just checked that one out, and I gotta say: I wouldn't hate to read it, either.

So maybe as a closer to the meme, we should all each pick one of 'our' stories to actually write. (Or maybe there could be voting!)

Oooh! Tempting!

I was just thinking about that! I need something to do after TYSK is through (which is happening way faster than I'd thought).

Not to be a nag, but are you still going to do that really angsty Buffy's-with-Angel-but-loves-Spike one? Because you know how I feel about angst....

Actually, anything you decide to write will make me go flaily with joy. I'll follow blissfully along!

Nag away! Yep, that's my plan for Seasonal Spuffy. Which works well because I think the theme is "distance" and that scene is all about distance between Buffy and Spike. There's 5,000 words written already. My plan is to wrap up TYSK, then work on Secret Heart (working title).

Oh, goody! I am so excited, I can't even tell you! I have a feeling it's going to hit a bunch of my kinks (AAAAAANGST!).

*needs to work on S_S*

Do you have any ideas for S_S? Shaaaaaaare!

Well, actually...If you go here and read

aisalynn's description of her future Spuffy...I'm kind of writing that. It stuck in my head, and I couldn't get it out, so I PMed her and begged her to let me write it since she said she wasn't going to, and she agreed. So that's what I'm working on. And it totally fits the "distance" theme, too.

I'm excited about it and I think it'll be really good (if I can get myself to write more), but I'm a little paranoid because it's not the typical "happily-ever-after" sort of ending. I will post it anyways.

Oh, I'm sure it'll be awesome! I'm honestly still incredibly worried about writing my fic because it has Buffy choosing Angel to be with. It's all "Nooooo!"

Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. Honestly, the first time I heard you describe it, I was all "Nooooo!" too, but the idea grew on my so much. I'm sure it'll be amazing.

Inorite?!!!

*whimpers with you*

I'm so evil! *mad cackles*

I've got to go with The Ego Has Landed. Who would have thought that Spike could have seduced Buffy away from Angel back in season two? A great Spuffy spin on "School Hard." ;)

Ah, yes. The idea of rewriting "School Hard" as a screwball comedy came to me while I was watching His Girl Friday for the fiftieth time (Angel is so a Ralph Bellamy type), and it was either my greatest idea ever...or my craziest. Taking the typical Spuffy snark and elevating it to the level of classic comedy wit was a real challenge, but I think I managed to pull it off.

Although I might have had even more fun with the sequel, since I got to go all The Thin Man with Season 3 and have Buffy and Spike in an established relationship solving a mystery. Faith was born to be a femme fatale, and Mr. Trick and the Mayor? Too much fun to write all screwball-noir. Plus: the dog!

Despite all the Spuffy love and the Dawn love, the fic I really want to know about is Stooge. It's hard enough to find any Faith/Giles fic, but that one had everything I wanted: plot, road trips, and lots of non-verbal working-out of issues. So fabulous.

And you get to claim partial credit for it! Ever since we had that conversation about their similarities and differences, I really wanted to explore that relationship. That particular story grew from a one-shot to an rambling road trip novella (I still can't believe I finished it!), and developed an actual plot, too! Plus, I got to sort of explore Faith's relationship with Buffy, too, even if Buffy wasn't actually in it (hence the title).

The hardest scene to write was definitely the one with the Nutella...but it was also fun, too!

Win! Love how you used the title.

Now, please to be writing Faith/Giles so I can read it. *g*

(I can actually be quite demanding when it comes to Faith/Giles - there's just so little of it out there.)

Well, it was a mean title! I'm impressed I came up with anything at all!

You're right; I don't see it a lot. But when I do, it's always from superior writers, so I guess there's that.

I would have to do a ton of thinking about those two in order to write them. Spike I find easy-peasy to write (is that a bad thing?) and I feel like I've gotten to the point where Buffy comes pretty easily. And there's Dawn, whom I adore to write. But anyone other than that is a challenge for me. I need to stretch myself.

I might have to write a drabble-ish Faith/Giles thing for you. And OH MY GOODNESS, I just checked your profile and your birthday's so soon! I make no guarantees, but I might try to whip something up before then!

But when I do, it's always from superior writers, so I guess there's that.

Is true. I have a theory that Giles, being more 'mature,' just attracts older and therefore often more mature writers. But the worst Faith/Giles fic I've seen has been mediocre - certainly nothing eye-meltingly bad.

Spike is definitely my favorite character to write at this point - I adore the narrative voice that I've got worked out for him, and I love the way I can fling archaic grammatical constructions and up-to-the-minute slang together at will. Dawn I feel I have a pretty good handle on, and Giles and Anya in terms of voice, if not necessarily characterization all the time. But Buffy is quite the enigma to me, both for voice and for characterization, and I don't even know where to start with Faith.

Eep! On one hand, I should love to see some F/G from you, whether written for me or not. But OTOH, there should be no stress involved. Fannishness and fanfic writing aren't allowed to be stressful - this is supposed to be fun. :)

(And of course I was just kidding with the 'demand' bit. *g*)

I think your theory on Giles is probably very true.

I love the way I can fling archaic grammatical constructions and up-to-the-minute slang together at will. The way he talks is just so much fun, isn't it?

I love your Dawn, btw. Just so's you know.

Buffy is definitely one of the hardest characters to write, because other than a few specific things (her devotion to her sister, her struggles with depression in S6, and her feelings of isolation), I just don't identify with her at all. But I've dedicated so much time to really trying to get a handle on her character that I feel like I'm beginning to write a Buffy-voice I can be proud of. And for what it's worth, I love the way you've written her in Seraph. She's very S4-pre-Glory Buffy to me.

(I suspected as much. *g*)

In other news, I'm currently working on your birthday fic, which, if all goes well, I'll be able to post tomorrow! I probably shouldn't have said that, since now it's never going to get done, but...I wish you a happy birthday!

The way he talks is just so much fun, isn't it?

Oh, gosh. I could write Spike for a very long time indeed, just for the language.

And for what it's worth, I love the way you've written her in Seraph. She's very S4-pre-Glory Buffy to me.

This is very, very nice to hear. I was reading somewhere the claim that some Spuffy authors are mostly just interested in Spike and they then write Buffy either how they want her to be, or how they are themselves, thus making her a sort of vicarious Mary Sue. And, honestly, my Seraph!Buffy really is a Buffy that makes more sense to me that many Buffy depictions do, and whom I like more and is more like me than most depictions. So I worried that I was Sueing her, just because she makes more sense to me and I like her more consistently than I do even in canon.

All of which is to say, Yay! It's very heartening to know she comes across as the real Buffy.

Yay, birthday fic! Although good wishes are very much appreciated all by themselves, fic or no. (Which isn't to say I'm not terribly excited to read you write Spuffy friendship...)

Oh, gosh. I could write Spike for a very long time indeed, just for the language. And if you decided to do so, I would not complain. ;)

That's a pretty interesting theory, and one that's no doubt true often. I honestly think that Buffy becomes a lot less likable in fic most of the time--people who write good fic that doesn't go all Mary Sue-ish usually depict her as very...harsh. So yeah, your depiction isn't like that at all...but I think yours is more realistic for where she was a the time you're writing her.

Of course, I'm one of those weird people who didn't start loving Buffy until the later seasons. If just the first four seasons existed, she wouldn't be my favorite character. But she is!

Well, I hope you had an absolutely wonderful day. Nothing like a Buffy-birthday at all.

What I'm working on is a FitB S5 fic...so it's not super close Spuffy friendship, but it's them talking and understanding each other and having a quiet moment (if it works *fingers crossed*), so I hope you end up liking it. How awful would it be if I wrote you a birthday fic and you ended up hating it! :O

I honestly think that Buffy becomes a lot less likable in fic most of the time--people who write good fic that doesn't go all Mary Sue-ish usually depict her as very...harsh.

Yeah. I find that I often don't like Buffy very much in fic.

Well, I hope you had an absolutely wonderful day. Nothing like a Buffy-birthday at all.

I did indeed have a lovely birthday, wherein none of my nearest and dearest turned into monsters, were threatened by monsters, or wished me a forced house arrest. So yay for that. :)

Ooh! I like the sound of this fic very much indeed. Moments of understanding between unlikely people is one of my biggest narrative kinks, and is really why I started liking Spuffy in the first place.

How awful would it be if I wrote you a birthday fic and you ended up hating it! :O

Somehow, this seems like a highly unlikely scenario. *g*

I did indeed have a lovely birthday, wherein none of my nearest and dearest turned into monsters, were threatened by monsters, or wished me a forced house arrest. I'm so glad to hear that!

Moments of understanding between unlikely people is one of my biggest narrative kinks, and is really why I started liking Spuffy in the first place. Oh, mine, too. I have to say that I really, really wanted to like the play Coriolanus because the whole idea of this guy going to his enemy when everyone else turned on him just made me giddy. But of course that doesn't exactly work out, and the rest of the play isn't that great (or at least, the production I was wasn't; I haven't read it). I looove moments like that.

Well, I hope you do indeed like it! It's up right here.

Oh, mine, too. I have to say that I really, really wanted to like the play Coriolanus because the whole idea of this guy going to his enemy when everyone else turned on him just made me giddy.

Oh, yes. It'd have made me giddy, too, if I knew it before just now. *g* I've read a scattering of Shakespeare - largely on my own, which explains the selection - but that's not one I've gotten to yet.

I could make a whole list of books and movies in which I love this unlikely friends/allies trope, although the one that comes to mind just now is Xavier and Magneto in the second X-Men movie.

The only reason I knew anything about it at all is that they did it for Shakespeare in the Park here last year (honestly, part of my antipathy towards it may have been because they tried to stretch the play so that it applied to the current American political situation...and it didn't work). Still, I'd recommend just about every other Shakespeare play before that one! I'm impressed at you tackling him on your own; I've read quite a lot of him, but none outside of a classroom setting.

And I really can't verbalize how much the idea of him turning to his enemy in that moment--that there's this underlying respect there--appeals to me. I fully intend to write a book with that premise someday. (It also reminds me of Spike showing up at Giles's door in "Pangs" and throwing himself on the Slayer's mercy. Love. It.)

Oooh! That's a good one! Yeah, with them playing chess in the plastic jail cell and such? Very cool.

Sometime you should make such a list! I would love to read it!

*responded via email*

I absolutely loved Operation: Black Dove. I'll be honest... when I first read the summary, I admit I was skeptical. I mean... an All Human fic where Buffy and Spike are CIA agents who 'randomly' meet, work together and fall in love, only for Buffy to find out that he's really a double agent? And then it's all angst and tragedy while she's intent on carrying out her duty, and he truly is completely in love with her. It's one of those fic ideas that I think in the hands of anyone less skilled could have turned out absolutely horrible and corny. But instead, you made it into a great ride. Full of action, incredibly hot sex, and finally the angst. It's definitely one of my all time favorite Spuffy fics. I'm curious.. what was the hardest scene for you to write? And what was your favorite scene?

And I always said I'd never do All Human fic--ever, ever, ever! But what choice did I have when that's the assignment I got for the plot-swap challenge? I had to make the best of it, and I'm so glad to know it ended up working for you!

Of course, I got to keep that one dynamic from the show--Buffy being full of self-loathing at wanting this guy despite him being the enemy and her being sure he'd never change: it was basically S6 in All Human form...and we both know how I feel about S6!

Well, action scenes are hard, but I had some great help figuring it out from my more action-minded betas. But even that paled in comparison to trying to write smut, which is yet another thing I said I'd never do! And I had zero confidence there because of my zero experience, so I'm so thrilled you thought the sex was hot! I was so sure I wouldn't be able to pull it off!

I already adored your Dean Winchester crossovers(now everytime I see my favorite River moments, I think "that girl is batshit insane" XD) but I have to say, your fic that made me believe in the crossover genre was Is it Bright Where You Are. In the first place I love that you AU’d Cassidy Casablancas into Buffy but having him be the Powers That Be’s weirdest choice for a link to the spirit world, and linking him with Willow of all people—stroke of genius!

See I’ve seen a lot of fics that are sympathetic towards Cassidy to the point of justifying the stuff he did, and that just doesn’t sit well with me even though he’s a favorite character of mine. But I think you hit the moral complexities of his character in a very….Jossverse way. You ‘redeemed’ him in a way by putting him in the world view of this girl who’s encountered irredeemable acts in her line of work, and who happens to share a lot of the same personality traits that he does—-love that they flirt and have geek moments together even though Will’s still reeling over losing Oz and even though Cassidy is kind of, uh, dead. And it breaks my heart that she can remind him so very heavily of Mac. And also, I like(albeit am disturbed) by the creepy foreshadowing into murderous!S6finale!Willow

Also, Xander’s mild jealousy and stupid nicknames were priceless! “Cass-per?” Oh Xander.

Oh, yes, of course you'd like that one! Cassidy always had an otherworldly quality to him anyways, so deciding to have the Powers That Be choose him? Kinda obvious. And he and Willow did have a ton in common, and Willow definitely reminded me of Mac, so there's that, too.

I'm so glad to know you thought the moral complexities worked! I admit that because I love Cassidy so much, I was worried I might whitewash his behavior too much. But his moral ambiguities did seem to fit very neatly into the Jossverse.

My favorite parts were definitely the foreshadowing of Dark Willow. I had the feeling that Cassidy, as someone who was once innocent and became murderous, would be able to see the potential in Willow. I'm glad it came across so clearly! Actually, the last line was originally supposed to be, Even if nothing could erase that darkness lurking in her. But I went with something a bit more hopeful because, after all, Willow is redeemed in S7.

So yeah, the main endeavor with this story was to make it fit within canon, and I think I managed to pull it off! Plus, Cassidy seeing her potential for darkness really does make Willow's fall in S6 of canon even more depressing, don't you think?

I've thought about writing a sequel where he visits her again during her time in England between S6&7, but I don't have the right angle on it yet. Maybe it'll happen someday!

now everytime I see my favorite River moments, I think "that girl is batshit insane" XD Hee! I'm flattered!

Sequel should be very cool, specially since Dark Willow was redeemed by love--which was sorely lacking in Cassidy's life *sniff*

Yes, it definitely fit within canon! Nevermind that strictly, the timelines should be incompatible, because it fit so well.

So what was the most amusing scene for you to write? And the most heart-wrenching exchange? And ;)

Most amusing? The one with the frog, definitely. So many forget Willow's deathly fear of them, but it's just as much fun as Anya's bunnies!

The most heartwrenching was when Cassidy told Willow about Mac and asked her if she'd look her up and make sure that everything was okay with her.

That would also be an awesome sequel: the friendship between those two girls unfolding offscreen during both their canons!

The Greatest Meme Ever

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject