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crack_van2009-01-20 06:36 pm
moscow-watcher.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2009-01-20 06:36 pm
Entry tags:
To Dream Again by Ariane, NC-17
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Pairing: Buffy/Spike
Author on LJ: --
Length: 30,000+ words.
Author website: Dark Dreams
Why this must be read:
To Dream Again has one of the most masterfully constructed plots I ever read on BtVS fandom. Premise: in season 3 Spike returns to Sunnydale two months earlier. He goes to Joyce to complain about life and she lets drunk Spike sleep in Buffy's room, because she still thinks he's her bandmate. Pissed off, Buffy goes to Bronze, meets Halfrek and impulsively wishes that Spike weren’t a vampire so that she could call the cops and get him arrested. When she returns home, she discovers human William who quickly falls in love with her. Giles sends him back in time but time paradox happens nevertheless. Back in XIX century William can't forget Buffy so he finds Angelus to sire him because it's the only way to cross the ocean of time and meet Buffy again. When he meets her in a new, "reloaded" universe, everything goes differently - and yet so many things stay the same...
Using tried-and-true technique of "take two", Ariane reworks practically all the crucial plot points of later seasons, including Buffy's voyage to heaven after her death. Writer adapts all canonical events to the new reality yet keeps the story very close to canon. Characters are sharply drawn and recognizable, pace is quick (Ariane avoids long descriptions that readers usually skip, and that's a big bonus), and, among all the angst, twists and turns there is a lot of humor.
“I want him dead and gone!”
Buffy sat at the bar in the Bronze, late one August night, fuming over the latest injustice inflicted upon her. Tired, hot and terribly put out after an exhausting patrol, she’d come home to find Spike, asleep and drunk, in her bed. Her mother’s unfailing lack of character judgment never ceased to amaze her. Her mother had left for an extended buying trip for her gallery that afternoon and had delivered her most recent bomb to her daughter in the form of a somewhat off-hand note.
Buffy,
Sorry l missed you, honey. Groceries are in the fridge. Remember your curfew. Just because I’m not here doesn’t mean that I haven’t left word with a few friends to keep a lookout for you. Don’t let the house get into a big mess. You know how to contact me if you need me. Do your homework! And please, be safe.
Love, Mom
P.S. That nice young man, Spike, you know, the one who helped you out last year, stopped by. He was in terrible shape, something about a bad breakup with his girlfriend. Poor thing. Hope you don’t mind, but I invited him in for cocoa and then told him he could sleep it off in your room. He’s such a polite boy, even when he’s drunk. I didn’t want him roaming the streets and getting roughed up by some gang.
She’d run upstairs to find Spike sprawled across her bed, snoring up a storm, Mr. Gordo clasped helplessly beneath his chin. She’d rescued the poor pig from Spike’s embrace. Spike had let out a loud groan and pulled her new, pink satin comforter over his head. Thus began a futile tug of war over her comforter, with Spike winning when Buffy realized, with disgust, that he was naked beneath the covers. He was dead drunk. She wished that he was just plain dead.
“I can’t believe my mother let you into this house. Pig!” She’d looked apologetically down at Mr. Gordo. “Not you. Com’ere my little, pink ball of fluff.” She’d picked the pig up off the floor and hidden him in her closet. “You’ll be safe here. Don’t know about me, though…”
Twirling a stake in her hand, she’d stared down at the lump beneath her covers, thinking that she really wasn’t up to cleaning that much dust out of her bed. And so, she’d left the bedroom and headed for the Bronze, just to let off some steam, and with the vague hope that Willow would be there and might be able to help her get rid of Spike.
Unfortunately, Willow was nowhere in sight. Buffy ordered a tequila sunrise and was refused by the bartender.
“You’re underage. Wanna get me fired?”
“You don’t understand. I’ve got problems.”
“Take ‘em somewhere else,” he said. “Here’s some water.”
Infuriated, she stared at the glass of water, stuck her finger in it and flicked a drop at the back of the bartender’s head when he turned his back to her. An older woman, sitting next to her, let out a low laugh and gave Buffy a sympathetic smile.
“Man trouble?” the woman asked.
“Yeah.”
“They’re insufferable, aren’t they?”
“You can say that again.”
“Insufferable,” the woman repeated. Leaning closer, she spoke to Buffy in a soft voice, “Men. Don’t you just wish something really awful would happen to them? Pain, torture, loss of hair?”
“Oh, yeah. I wish…I wish…” Buffy got a dreamy look on her face.
“You wish…” the woman prompted.
“I wish Spike wasn’t a vampire. I could call the cops and get him arrested for breaking and entering. Maybe he’d get 20 years to life.” Buffy smiled at the woman. “Wow! I’d be grown up or dead before he’s out. I’d never have to see him again!”
“Excellent wish.” The woman rose from her barstool, tossing a tip down on the bar. “Well, it’s been lovely chatting with you. Glad I could make you smile. Bye.” She slipped through the crowd and disappeared.
“That was weird. But nice,” Buffy sighed, happily fantasizing about Spike behind bars; Spike in chains; Spike, forced out of his sleazy black attire, wearing stripes or maybe even one of those ugly, orange jumpsuits; and best of all, Spike making license plates with a three hundred pound prison guard standing behind him with a stun gun.
To Dream Again
Pairing: Buffy/Spike
Author on LJ: --
Length: 30,000+ words.
Author website: Dark Dreams
Why this must be read:
To Dream Again has one of the most masterfully constructed plots I ever read on BtVS fandom. Premise: in season 3 Spike returns to Sunnydale two months earlier. He goes to Joyce to complain about life and she lets drunk Spike sleep in Buffy's room, because she still thinks he's her bandmate. Pissed off, Buffy goes to Bronze, meets Halfrek and impulsively wishes that Spike weren’t a vampire so that she could call the cops and get him arrested. When she returns home, she discovers human William who quickly falls in love with her. Giles sends him back in time but time paradox happens nevertheless. Back in XIX century William can't forget Buffy so he finds Angelus to sire him because it's the only way to cross the ocean of time and meet Buffy again. When he meets her in a new, "reloaded" universe, everything goes differently - and yet so many things stay the same...
Using tried-and-true technique of "take two", Ariane reworks practically all the crucial plot points of later seasons, including Buffy's voyage to heaven after her death. Writer adapts all canonical events to the new reality yet keeps the story very close to canon. Characters are sharply drawn and recognizable, pace is quick (Ariane avoids long descriptions that readers usually skip, and that's a big bonus), and, among all the angst, twists and turns there is a lot of humor.
“I want him dead and gone!”
Buffy sat at the bar in the Bronze, late one August night, fuming over the latest injustice inflicted upon her. Tired, hot and terribly put out after an exhausting patrol, she’d come home to find Spike, asleep and drunk, in her bed. Her mother’s unfailing lack of character judgment never ceased to amaze her. Her mother had left for an extended buying trip for her gallery that afternoon and had delivered her most recent bomb to her daughter in the form of a somewhat off-hand note.
Buffy,
Sorry l missed you, honey. Groceries are in the fridge. Remember your curfew. Just because I’m not here doesn’t mean that I haven’t left word with a few friends to keep a lookout for you. Don’t let the house get into a big mess. You know how to contact me if you need me. Do your homework! And please, be safe.
Love, Mom
P.S. That nice young man, Spike, you know, the one who helped you out last year, stopped by. He was in terrible shape, something about a bad breakup with his girlfriend. Poor thing. Hope you don’t mind, but I invited him in for cocoa and then told him he could sleep it off in your room. He’s such a polite boy, even when he’s drunk. I didn’t want him roaming the streets and getting roughed up by some gang.
She’d run upstairs to find Spike sprawled across her bed, snoring up a storm, Mr. Gordo clasped helplessly beneath his chin. She’d rescued the poor pig from Spike’s embrace. Spike had let out a loud groan and pulled her new, pink satin comforter over his head. Thus began a futile tug of war over her comforter, with Spike winning when Buffy realized, with disgust, that he was naked beneath the covers. He was dead drunk. She wished that he was just plain dead.
“I can’t believe my mother let you into this house. Pig!” She’d looked apologetically down at Mr. Gordo. “Not you. Com’ere my little, pink ball of fluff.” She’d picked the pig up off the floor and hidden him in her closet. “You’ll be safe here. Don’t know about me, though…”
Twirling a stake in her hand, she’d stared down at the lump beneath her covers, thinking that she really wasn’t up to cleaning that much dust out of her bed. And so, she’d left the bedroom and headed for the Bronze, just to let off some steam, and with the vague hope that Willow would be there and might be able to help her get rid of Spike.
Unfortunately, Willow was nowhere in sight. Buffy ordered a tequila sunrise and was refused by the bartender.
“You’re underage. Wanna get me fired?”
“You don’t understand. I’ve got problems.”
“Take ‘em somewhere else,” he said. “Here’s some water.”
Infuriated, she stared at the glass of water, stuck her finger in it and flicked a drop at the back of the bartender’s head when he turned his back to her. An older woman, sitting next to her, let out a low laugh and gave Buffy a sympathetic smile.
“Man trouble?” the woman asked.
“Yeah.”
“They’re insufferable, aren’t they?”
“You can say that again.”
“Insufferable,” the woman repeated. Leaning closer, she spoke to Buffy in a soft voice, “Men. Don’t you just wish something really awful would happen to them? Pain, torture, loss of hair?”
“Oh, yeah. I wish…I wish…” Buffy got a dreamy look on her face.
“You wish…” the woman prompted.
“I wish Spike wasn’t a vampire. I could call the cops and get him arrested for breaking and entering. Maybe he’d get 20 years to life.” Buffy smiled at the woman. “Wow! I’d be grown up or dead before he’s out. I’d never have to see him again!”
“Excellent wish.” The woman rose from her barstool, tossing a tip down on the bar. “Well, it’s been lovely chatting with you. Glad I could make you smile. Bye.” She slipped through the crowd and disappeared.
“That was weird. But nice,” Buffy sighed, happily fantasizing about Spike behind bars; Spike in chains; Spike, forced out of his sleazy black attire, wearing stripes or maybe even one of those ugly, orange jumpsuits; and best of all, Spike making license plates with a three hundred pound prison guard standing behind him with a stun gun.
To Dream Again
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