What would Harry, Ron, and Hermione do?

This week IDW’s Spike #6, written by Brian Lynch, caused another, unexpected round of fandom ‘What fresh hell’ on my f-list, the likes of which I wasn’t expecting to see until S9 began and which has apparently caused quite a furor on certain forums similar to the commotion after S6. I can’t speak to that since I eschew non-Spuffy fansites and didn’t watch BtVS when it aired, but after reading some of my f-list’s posts, I was inspired to write about what the soul means to me.

A brief background on the commotion, as I understand it from moscow_watcher ’s excellent post: A villain steals Spike’s soul, and Spike’s reaction is:

"Before it was official. Before the goddamned voodoo. I was GOOD. That glowy ball. That thing you've had a hard-on to tear from me? Hang it on your wall. Bronze it. I don't need it."

Spike then gives his soul to Drusilla to stop her from killing one of his friends, as all other physical or magical means of stopping her are exhausted by that point. Apparently the S8 writers have stated unequivocally that Spike has his soul in the last arc, which means he somehow gets it back in the last two issues of IDW’s Spike arc.

Spike’s decision and ability to be good without his soul have not only excited Spike haters but also divided Spike lovers through several arguments:
       a) If Spike can be good without a soul then he is more responsible for his crimes than Angel is for Angelus’s and is extra evil.
       b) If Spike can be good without a soul, his redemption in S7 is invalidated.

I don’t believe either of these viewpoints, but as a Spuffy fan, it’s the second one that most saddens me because it seems like Spike’s soul has become a (very unnecessary) dividing line in the sand. I don’t think Spike losing his soul invalidates his redemption. I also don’t think that Spike’s S7 souled redemption arc invalidates his ability to be good unsouled. I’ve been confused in the past about why some people regard it as an either/or situation, and I’ve come to conclusion that it must depend on your personal definition of what a soul means in the Buffyverse.

The writers never cohesively nor consistently defined what a soul means, so I understand that canon supports many different interpretations of the soul, some of which probably would invalidate one character arc or another. I choose to base my interpretation of the soul on Spike and other vampires’ actions, rather than on the various verbal definitions that Buffy, Angel, and the Council provide. Even though I use statement language in the following essay rather than ‘I feel’ or ‘I think,’ I am not trying to convince anyone of what the ‘right’ definition of a soul is. I am going to explain my interpretation of the soul and why I don’t think it invalidates any character arcs.

What a soul means to me:
       a) (Increased) Ability to empathize
       b) Increased ability to differentiate between right and wrong. Note here that the ‘increased’ is not in parentheses as it is above.
       c) Patience/maturity/impulse-control/willpower/insert-vaguely-synonmyous-word here to resist vampiric instincts

( Read more... )

Title: For Want of A Back Porch (Alternate Ending)
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: These characters belong to Joss Whedon, and I am making no money, etc., etc.
Summary: Buffy used to worry that she couldn’t love. After Twilight, she's afraid to love. But can she and Spike just be friends? Buffy, Spike, and their balcony, with a side of Dawn and Xander. 5,500 words. Part I. Part II. Part III. Part IV-Original Ending.
A/N: This alternate ending exists because I can't help thinking that after Spike's untimely death in "Chosen," Buffy wouldn't waste a second in telling him she loved him if she had a second chance.  I posted my original ending because I love Dawn being bossy and proactive, but I also wanted to explore this second possibility where Buffy is proactive.  The new stuff starts in the MIDDLE of this post, when Buffy and Spike wake up in the morning.  The first half duplicates Part IV because I wanted each chapter to be able to stand on its own.


( Part IV - Alternate Ending )

Title: For Want of A Back Porch (4/4)
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: These characters belong to Joss Whedon, and I am making no money, etc., etc.
Summary: Buffy used to worry that she couldn’t love. After Twilight, she's afraid to love. But can she and Spike just be friends? Buffy, Spike, and their balcony, with a side of Dawn and Xander.  4,000 words.  Part I.  Part II.  Part III.
A/N: I changed the ending to this yesterday, which is much more impulsive than I usually am, but I thought that Buffy deserved to be more self-aware in the penultimate scene.  I hope it works.  I am considering writing an alternate ending in which Buffy is not only self-aware but also decides to share with the class.  You'll know what I mean, and if you have an opinion on that- such as, which you think is more realistic, would you want to read an alt ending, etc., please let me know.  I might write one just for my own gratification, but it would take a few weeks.

Thank you so much to everyone who has read and commented on previous parts.  Your feedback has been so generous and made me very happy.  This fic kind of poured out of me after #40 (it's been a while since I've felt such an impetus to write write write and tell a specific story), so I'm thrilled that you've enjoyed it.  Thank you.


( Part IV )

Title: For Want of A Back Porch (3/4)
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: These characters belong to Joss Whedon, and I am making no money, etc., etc.
Summary: Buffy used to worry that she couldn’t love. After Twilight, she's afraid to love. But can she and Spike just be friends? Buffy, Spike, and their balcony, with a side of Dawn and Xander. Part III is 5,700 words (the whole fic is 21,000 words and it is finished; updates every day or two).  Part II.  Part I.

( Part III )

Title: For Want of A Back Porch (2/4)
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: These characters belong to Joss Whedon, and I am making no money, etc., etc.
Summary: Buffy used to worry that she couldn’t love. After Twilight, she's afraid to love. But can she and Spike just be friends? Buffy, Spike, and their balcony, with a side of Dawn and Xander. Part II is 6,000 words (the whole fic is 21,000 words and it is finished; updates every day or two).  Part I is here.

( Part II )

Title: For Want of A Back Porch (1/4)
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: These characters belong to Joss Whedon, and I am making no money, etc., etc.
Summary: Buffy used to worry that she couldn’t love. After Twilight, she's afraid to love. But can she and Spike just be friends? Buffy, Spike, and their balcony, with a side of Dawn and Xander.  6,000 words (the whole fic is 21,000 words and it is finished; updates every day or two).

A/N: You don’t need to have read the comics to read this because I’ve only read issues 36-40, have minimal knowledge of what happened before that, and I wrote the darn thing. Here is S8 in a nutshell for any non-comic person who wants to read this anyway: Buffy and Angel frakked and it led to the apocalypse; Angel killed Giles; Buffy destroyed some mystical seed thing, thereby saving the world but also destroying all its magic; a few months later, she’s now living in San Francisco on Dawn and Xander’s couch. Meanwhile, Spike was a Big Damn Hero and Buffy fantasized about making love to him. It was gorgeous and beautiful (see the icon!) and so much better than the space porn, even if it was only in her head. I’ve set this fic starting about a month after #40 in the autumn; since I don’t know the timeline in the comics, autumn, or the Start of the Television Season, seemed as good a time as any.

Despite my usual flippancy about the comics, I did really enjoy #40 and have tried to write Buffy and Spike as realistically as possible according to the last arc and what I know.  I didn't change them up because of personal preferences.  In other words, they're not the same Buffy and Spike I usually write b/c the comic characters are, I think, very different from the canon TV-show characters.  Lastly, I’m sorry in advance to any diligent comic readers for any comic-related mistakes I’ve made.

And now that I've finished mine, I can go read other people's post-#40 fic!


( Part I )

Part II

I was watching parts of Him yesterday because despite the fact that I’m not supposed to like it because it’s misogynistic and whatnot, I kind of love it a lot. I love Xander for hating Spike and taking him in anyway, I love Buffy for mollycoddling her vampire, I love James Marsters for how tortured and miserable he looks, I love Buffy and Dawn’s bleacher conversation (the sisterliness…not the hand-waving about the soul bit), I love the bazooka scene, I love Xander and Spike working together, and I lovelovelovelovelovelovelove Anya and Willow’s “his physical presence has a penis!” argument (Alyson Hannigan and Emma Caulfield, y’all are brilliant and beautiful and I adore you).

However, I also always wonder about the bazooka scene and the fact that Spike is the one chasing Buffy because it seems like it could be a triggery situation for the characters. I understand why he does it, I love that he does it, and I think it’s probably intentional of the writers after Buffy’s ginormous flinch at the beginning. I don’t think the build-up to the scene would be as comical as the actual scene itself, though. Or maybe I just like angst and Xander and Spike interaction. In any case, I came up with a 1000-word ficlet. I’m not sure that I’m 100% satisfied with it, but if I ever get around to writing my early S7 Xander fic, I’ll probably get a better lock on his motivations and be able to edit this more then if I choose.

Title: Inescapable
Rating: R for one swear word and mentions of the AR
Setting: 7x06, Him

“Okay, I don’t know what Buffy’s planning, but we’re probably going to need brawn to stop her, and that means you.”

Xander’s rambling as he drives toward Sunnydale High at a much higher speed than he should, trying not to panic about what his best friends are doing, might have done already, trying to ignore the bitter fact that all of a sudden he needs Spike, the strange fact that he’s secretly relieved Spike is here, that he’s not the only male around. If the situation weren’t so dire he might laugh at the irony- or go into panicked hysterics.

( Read more... )