Re-posted from earlier.

[elisi]

(Because obviously I shouldn't post first thing in the morning. Or maybe my fic is all self-explanatory?)

Fic meme:

Pick a paragraph (or any passage less than 500 words) from any fanfic I've written, and comment to this post with that selection. I will then give you a DVD commentary on that snippet: what I was thinking when I wrote it, why I wrote it in the first place, what's going on in the character's heads, why I chose certain words, what this moment means in the context of the rest of the fic, lots of awful puns, and anything else that you'd expect to find on a DVD commentary track.

All my fic here. (Actually, feel free to ask any kind of fic-related question. I want to focus on something other than housework!)

Comments

[zanthinegirl.livejournal.com]

I'll play! it's a couple of paragraphs, but less than 500 words! From Captain Spike ...

“If you breathe a word about this to Buffy...”

Angel smiled innocently. “Who needs words? I was thinking of making a painting or something. I could call it ‘Pieta’.”

Spike scowled. “Always were a blasphemer, Angel. Anyway, I’ll just tell her that you’ve gone evil again, and then watch as she stakes you. Can’t laugh when you’re dust blowing in the wind.”

There was a short pause as Angel tried to look serious, and then a wide grin spread across his face.

“Still the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. You know, I think it even beats Andrew’s big reunion speech... ‘My therapist thought I was holding onto false hope, but... I knew you'd come back.’” He laughed again and shook his head. “What could it be about you that makes all the boys go wild, Spike?”

[elisi]

I'll play!
Yay! Let's see what I can do whilst folding laundry...

Well, I have to admit that first and foremost I was just being silly. It all just wrote itself, since Angel quite simply couldn't help himself - he doesn't get the upper hand very often. :)

But it was also a bit of show-don't-tell. I wanted the readers to know that Spike was dating Buffy, that Angel OK with that, and that the two of them (Spike and Angel) were on good (/friendly) terms, but would still use any opportunity to take the piss out of each other. And of course make clear that they *weren't* sleeping together, but still had that UST thing going on ('arguing far too much').

Then there were various nods to continuity - Andrew's speech (which I love), Angel's artistic talents and his penchant for nuns... All of which were neat, but also help Jack to accept that Spike isn't John, since he can see how the two vampires obviously have their own history (and don't really care about Jack, except as something to use against each other).

And of course there's the fact that Spike doth protest entirely too much... *g*

[japanimecrazed.livejournal.com]

Technically this is more than 500 words, but the whole fic is only a little longer than that...

Buffy and Angel’s love is like a rainbow. When they meet - when rain meets sunshine - their love blossoms in the sky, for all to see. It is bright and awe-inspiring, awash with colour and breathtakingly beautiful, shimmering like nothing on this earth.

But it’s too high, too far although it seems close. And when they tried to reach up to it, tried to grasp it in their hands, it dissappeared like smoke, leaving emptiness in its wake. The very action of reaching causing it to vanish.

It came back - it’ll always come back - but it’ll never be theirs to posses.


Buffy and Spike’s love is like a clam, where one day a tiny grain of sand intruded. And although small, the grain was sharp and jagged and it irritated the clam greatly. So it tried to get rid of it as best it could - carefully and painstakingly smoothing over the nuisance; unseen, secret, unacknowledged. Growing so slowly that it could hardly be noticed.

When after many years they finally opened the clam, inside they found the most beautiful flawless pearl. Smooth, dense, and heavy with the layers of their history - from rough grain of sand to the perfection gleaming softly before them.

Theirs to touch and hold and own - to carry with them, always.


Spike and Angel’s love is like a teddy bear. They found it unexpectedly - all fluffy and new - many, many years ago. But being at that tender and cruel age when teddy bears are seen as the province of sissies and girls, they set about destroying it - tearing off its bow, shaving the fur, poking out an eye... and finally leaving it outside in the harsh weather, where it became soggy with rain and covered in mud.

When the two of them parted, the bear was stowed away in chest; torn, dingy and ignored.

Then one day they met again - much older, wiser and bleaker - and slowly began looking through the chest. Right at the bottom they found the teddy bear and at first they just put it back, uncertain and a bit abashed. Love is supposed to be a thing of beauty, right? But as time went on they thought that maybe they ought to do something a little more... so they cleaned and restored it as best they could, its blemishes rendering it more precious than they knew how to explain.

Now it sits on a shelf in a quiet corner - not hidden, nor on show. And never forgotten.

[elisi]

Hmm, this is a tricky one. *ponders* Basically I wanted to try to capture all the relationships in pure metaphor. If I remember rightly I first got the idea of B/A as a rainbow, and it fitted so well that I wanted to see if I could do S/B and S/A too...

The central (for me at least) part of the B/A part is The very action of reaching causing it to vanish. - that is, the Surprise/Innocence episodes. I also like it'll always come back, which to me is (amongst other things) their meeting in Chosen - the rainbow blossoms, but it's as intangible as ever. ("Not getting any older...")

I can't recall how I thought of the pearl metaphor for S/B, but it is very much how I see them. "It's not pretty, but it's real" Spike says in 'Crush', and that to me is central - as is the fact that come 'Chosen' that reality has become a thing of beauty. And, you know, if they meet again, their love is very much real and tangible.

Now I'm still not quite sure about the teddy bear thing for S/A... not that I can think of anything better, but it doesn't work as smoothly as the others. But then their relationship isn't a love story per se, it's about brotherly affection/family/rivalry. And if we take vampires to be essentially stuck in adolescence (very self-centered), using something childish to represent the bond they (thoughtlessly, casually) built when they were soulless seemed fairly fitting. The 'restoration' of the bear is obviously S5 of AtS, where towards the end (from AHiTW onwards) back each other up, no questions asked. They are who they are, and the history they share might not be nice, but it's theirs, and that's what matters.

(I hope this is OK? If there's anything more specific, just say.)

[japanimecrazed.livejournal.com]

This is excellent. It's fascinating how you relate specific lines to specific episodes.

[elisi]

This is excellent.
:)

It's fascinating how you relate specific lines to specific episodes.
Most things in my fics relate to specific things/episodes/happenings - I always wonder how many of them get picked up!