So where's s8 heading?

[elisi]

stormwreath made a point in his review of issue 9.

I've never read 'Fray', but he quoted this dialogue:

"It was some hundreds of years ago, in the twenty-first century. What we know is this - there was a battle. A Slayer, possibly with some mystical allies, faced an apocalyptic army of demons. And when it was done... they were gone. All demons, all magicks, banished from this Earthly dimension."
"And the Slayer? Did she--?"
"I do not know if she lived. But the demons being gone, she was the last to be Called."
- Joss Whedon, 'Fray'

It would seem very plausible that season 8 will lead up to that battle, esp given what the masked Twilight guy says.

(What did I say? It. Is. All. Story-driven!)

So... this made me think. First of all, I wondered about W&H, 'cause I can't see the Senior Partners easily giving up earth. Then I thought that maybe this would finally be that fabled apocalypse of theirs, and ooooh, what side *would* Angel be on? Then I thought that post-s8 fanfic would be like the most boring stuff ever: Buffy becomes a cop (just like predicted in WML!), marries... oh I don't know, Xander? Or Parker? And has some kids and hangs out with her friends.

But then I began thinking...


And here comes a teeny little fic, set post-season 8/AtF. Minor spoilers for the possible ending of both comics! *g*


And then what happened?

The portal closed behind them with a definitive crack, and Spike, Angel, Illyria and Connor looked around at the sun drenched landscape.

"So.. that's goodbye Earth, I take it?" Spike remarked, sighing.

"It would seem so," Angel replied, taking in the surroundings with a frown on his face.

"Why did they throw me out too?" Connor complained. "I'm human... ish."

"Your superior physical prowess threatened them!" Illyria answered, and Connor turned his head and shot her a speculative look.

"Guys... I think we're in Pylea," Angel said, and Illyria slowly nodded. "I concur." She tilted her head, assessing. "The cave where Fred lived is not far from here."

Connor's eyes suddenly lit up. "A cave? I grew up in caves. Want to show me?"

Blue eyes met blue eyes, and a small smile tugged at the God's mouth. "It would please me to do so."

Moments later they had vanished up the hill.

"Huh," Spike said. "That was quick."

He and Angel began walking in the direction of the town, and soon they came to a field where several people were busy harvesting.

"Angel!" A man exclaimed, and came towards them. He was no other than one of those who had helped storm the castle when Angel had been there last, and was now a member of the democratically elected government.

He and Angel chatted for a while, catching up, and finally Angel asked what they had done with the castle - did anyone live there or was it a government building now?

"Oh no," the man replied. "It would not be right for anyone to live so far elevated, and also it has many dark and unpleasant associations for everyone. Too much torture went on in there for us to ever be comfortable to use it."

Angel's eyes suddenly gleamed. "Does that mean we can have it?"

The man shrugged. "Sure."

Angel turned to Spike, smiling, and Spike's eyes narrowed. "What to you mean 'we'?"

Angel smiled even wider. "You look very pretty in sunshine..."

*

And they all lived happily ever after.

The End

Comments

[adoxerella.livejournal.com]

I just woke up, so the only coherant thing I can manage is, snerk.

Thanks for sharing this.

[elisi]

Hey, my pleasure! :) And I think it's the fastest I've ever written anything - I thought of it like a hour ago, and then just sat down and wrote it. Oh and Spike misses TV a lot, but they *do* have a lot of fun hunting Drokken beasts etc, so he gets over it after a while.

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

Haha, good one. Nice to see that Pylea, at least, has developed into a democracy rather than a people's republic (though the idea of members of government helping with the harvest made me want to insert the line "Dennis! There's some lovely filth down here! We're an anarcho-cynicalist commune. We take it in turns to sort of act as a sort of executive officer for the week. But all the decisions of that officer have to be ratified at a special bi-weekly meeting..." somewhere. :-) ) And Spike and Angel living happily in a fairytale castle is... enjoyable. (Sucks for Lorne though, I assume he'd be back home as well?)

As for s8/s9 ending with the battle described in Fray... I really hope not. That would pretty much land this in the same territory as ep 3 of Star Wars: everybody knows how it's going to end since we've already seen the sequel years ago. Which would make it even more crucial to get the characters right so we at least know WHY they end up where they do, rather than just showing us HOW...

[elisi]

Haha, good one.
I thought you might like it... ;)

Nice to see that Pylea, at least, has developed into a democracy rather than a people's republic
Well I half-remembered Groo's lines: "Endless committees were formed. Committees splintered into factions, the factions into coalitions, the coalitions turned into subcommittees, until finally the more radical element, spurred by a charismatic leader, did the dance of revolution."

So I - somewhat in the spirit of Monty Python it must be said - decided that they'd make one of those terribly, terribly equal and PC government thingys. (After they kicked out Groo, they did realise that having a Champion around might have been nice. Ergo, they're happy to have Angel & co around.)

And Spike and Angel living happily in a fairytale castle is... enjoyable.
Castles, castles, everywhere! (And Angel can brood over Cordy, when the mood gets him. It's perfect!)

Sucks for Lorne though, I assume he'd be back home as well?
Damn I totally forgot him. Although in my personal comic canon, the Spike-comics happened too, so post-NFA he went to Japan to pursue a career there, and people just thought he was a guy in make-up, and maybe he got to stay?

everybody knows how it's going to end since we've already seen the sequel years ago.
Amen. And also, a world without Slayers, demons & magic? *yawn* (OK, so it'd set up the Firefly 'verse, but...)

Which would make it even more crucial to get the characters right so we at least know WHY they end up where they do, rather than just showing us HOW...
I think it's getting a little late for that.

[moscow-watcher.livejournal.com]

s for s8/s9 ending with the battle described in Fray... I really hope not. That would pretty much land this in the same territory as ep 3 of Star Wars: everybody knows how it's going to end since we've already seen the sequel years ago.

Besides, I've got the impression that Joss plans to milk this cash cow ad infinitum and Fray ending closes the verse... :)

[kitmarlowescot2.livejournal.com]

Lol, this as good as your Pern crack.

[elisi]

Ooooh, thank you! :)

[zanthinegirl.livejournal.com]

It's 5:15- I haven't even had coffee yet! But that? Made me snicker wildly!

[elisi]

Yay! :D

[moscow-watcher.livejournal.com]

Yay!

And then Buffy arrived and told them that her castle is bigger, prettier and has Internet access... :)

[elisi]

Hee!

Although seriously - how? No more magic means no more portals - Willow would have to settle down and become a software programmer or something, rather than giving Buffy a helping hand. (Also comic!Buffy is emo, mindwiped, moping loner, and I don't want my Spike & Angel near her. *g*)

[kathyh]

LOL! I'm sure Spike and Angel will be much happier in their castle than Buffy is in hers :)

[elisi]

Indeed. :)

[shapinglight]

Hooray! That is exactly what happened.

And you disabled comments on your review post. Just wanted to say, I agree about Joss seemingly wanting to forget most of season 7. I don't understand it. I love season 7. Why are people so down on it?

:gloom:

[elisi]

Hooray! That is exactly what happened.
Knew you'd like it! Just think of this whenever you're feeling down! :)

And you disabled comments on your review post.
Didn't want a gazillion arguments.

Just wanted to say, I agree about Joss seemingly wanting to forget most of season 7. I don't understand it. I love season 7. Why are people so down on it?
No idea. It's brilliant, and deals *beautifully* with a lot of issues.

And I am now going to concentrate on my fic!

[mikeygs.livejournal.com]

I love season 7. Why are people so down on it?

I'm all a'whoa at that. I thought elisi might have been the only one besides me who liked the last season.

As far as Joss forgetting it, I'd go so far as to say he's neglecting everything after Restless as far as character development goes. And that only holds to the secondary characters. Comic!Buffy is pretty much completely out of nowhere.

[stormwreath.livejournal.com]

You have paired me with that pitiful offspring of halfbreeds. You are presumptuous. When I ruled, I could summon a thousand such as he as my love-slaves and cast them aside again as my whim took me. [/Illyria]

:-)

I thought that post-s8 fanfic would be like the most boring stuff ever
If Joss is working towards that as the ending, then it would really be The Ending. Reichenbach Falls. "Farewell, friend; I was a thousand times more evil than thou." '"Well, I'm back", he said'. "And they all lived happily ever after." So no, there wouldn't really be any further scope for sequels until you skip forward to the Frayverse, when the magic and demons start to return again.

Will he actually do that? I'm not sure. It would definitely be an artistic rather than commercial decision, if he does. It would be easy enough to say that 'Fray' happens in a separate branching timeline rather than being canon; or that the history recounted in the quote I wrote is distorted and inaccurate. (In the comic, it's said by a character who isn't necessarily 100% reliable as a source, rather than by an omniscient narrator).

If the demons and magic are banished from the earth, would Buffy and Willow end up normal humans without special powers? Or would they be banished too? Would they be willing to make that sacrifice voluntarily, if it meant banishing all the dangerous demons too?


I wondered about W&H, 'cause I can't see the Senior Partners easily giving up earth.

"This world is older than any of you know, and contrary to popular mythology, it did not begin as a paradise. For untold eons, Demons walked the earth; made it their home... their Hell. In time they lost their purchase on this reality, and the way was made for the mortal animals. For
Man."

"This [Scythe] was forged, centuries ago, by us. Halfway around the world. Forged there, it was put to use right here. Only once, to kill the last pure demon that walked upon the earth. The rest were already driven under."

The Senior Partners? Nothing but unfinished business. Their time will come...

[elisi]

You have paired me with that pitiful offspring of halfbreeds. You are presumptuous. When I ruled, I could summon a thousand such as he as my love-slaves and cast them aside again as my whim took me. [/Illyria]
Well he is the *miraculous* offspring of half breeds, created by the Powers to fulfill various prophecies. Strikes me as a nice toyboy/pet for a former God... (Anyway, plenty of humans for him to marry if he should want. I've just never seen any Connor/Illyria, and liked the idea!)

Will he actually do that? I'm not sure. It would definitely be an artistic rather than commercial decision, if he does.
It would rather... although of course he could still spend ages telling the stories of Spike & Angel in Pylea. ;)

In the comic, it's said by a character who isn't necessarily 100% reliable as a source, rather than by an omniscient narrator
Ah. Well then he has lots of scope for movement.

would Buffy and Willow end up normal humans without special powers? Or would they be banished too? Would they be willing to make that sacrifice voluntarily, if it meant banishing all the dangerous demons too?
I was wondering about that too. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

The Senior Partners? Nothing but unfinished business. Their time will come...
Well Mr Twilight is going to have a hell of a job with that one, what with them not residing on this plane...

[mrs-underhill.livejournal.com]

Weee! I love your ending!

Also, SPs do not belong with traditional demons or pure demons. They are embodiments of evil in everyone, more like First Evil than anything else. You can't banish them or get rid of them or defeat them, because you can't defeat evil in people, it'll always be there.
W&H and SPs are very different metaphores from Buffyverse demons. They'll always be there, that's the whole point.

[elisi]

Weee! I love your ending!
*grins* Just wait and see - I'm sure my predictions will come true!

They are embodiments of evil in everyone, more like First Evil than anything else.
Well... ish. From 'Shells':

ILLYRIA: The wolf, ram, and hart? In my time they were weak, barely above the vampire.
KNOX: Huh. I guess they beefed up.

However they work *with* the evil in everyone, having elevated themselves to something like god-status, and I find it hard to believe that an upstart like Twilight will be able to get rid of everything they've done.

W&H and SPs are very different metaphores from Buffyverse demons. They'll always be there, that's the whole point.
*nods* This is a problem when talking about 'final solutions'.

[lilred26x.livejournal.com]

Very cute! Thanks for sharing your theory of how it all ends. ;)

[elisi]

Hey, my pleasure. Both comics are rather depressing at the moment, so I figured a happy ending would be nice! *g* Thank you for reading.

[zoesmith.livejournal.com]

*GIGGLE* *SNORT* That was really cute!! And it sounds like a lovely ending :)

[elisi]

Heee! Thank you for reading. And I think that is the best possible ending. :)

[deird1]

Angel's last line made me crack up laughing!!!

[elisi]

It just came to me... (Actually it is a quote from somewhere, I think, but I can't remember *where* at the moment. Bother.)

Anyway, thank you so much for reading! :)