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Entry tags:
Life in Shadow by Minnow (PG-13)
Fandom: BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
Pairing: Gen
Length: 4,493 words
Author on LJ:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
minnow1212
Author Website: just her lj
Why this must be read: This is a portrait of season six Tara. It is truly exquisite character work, with outstandingly lovely attention to vivid detail and pitch-perfect voices. Minnow has a deft and elegant way with powerful and beautiful language, too. This fic is not about the plot; it is a quiet sort of story, more concerned with exploring who Tara is through her relationships with others and the rhythms of her life. The crafting, from beginning to end, is gorgeous.
Anya handed the sealed bag and receipt to Tara. "I don't know why you defend her," said Anya. "I know what spell you're using the tagas root for; I know you were checking the resurrection spell to see what she might not have told you. We're all supposed to feel sorry for her, because she let the magic run so deep in her, so uncontrolled, that now she can't handle it and we have one fewer line of defense. We wouldn't have survived the summer without her, and now--"
"We w-w-wouldn't have survived the summer without her," said Tara, pushing back the mention of the resurrection spell. That wasn't why she'd checked, but...why hadn't Willow told her what vino de madre was? Why hadn't she pushed to find out? Researching had made her wonder if Willow had done something to push her into acquiescence, but part of her knew that the truth was worse, that she had pushed herself into willful blindness because she could not stand the endless lurking pain in Dawn's and Willow's eyes, the brittleness in Willow's voice after she'd been programming the Buffybot. "We all pushed her to be our main line of defense, without considering consequences for her, and--that's one reason why I defend her."
"And you still love her," says Anya. "I suppose I would defend Xander too, even if he were behaving stupidly."
But if wasn't just that, although she couldn't say it to Anya. If Willow returned to magic, let herself fall into it again, how long would it be before Tara would be nothing but a smiling Tarabot, how long before Willow hurt them all out of longing and need and love?
Life in Shadow
Pairing: Gen
Length: 4,493 words
Author on LJ:
minnow1212Author Website: just her lj
Why this must be read: This is a portrait of season six Tara. It is truly exquisite character work, with outstandingly lovely attention to vivid detail and pitch-perfect voices. Minnow has a deft and elegant way with powerful and beautiful language, too. This fic is not about the plot; it is a quiet sort of story, more concerned with exploring who Tara is through her relationships with others and the rhythms of her life. The crafting, from beginning to end, is gorgeous.
Anya handed the sealed bag and receipt to Tara. "I don't know why you defend her," said Anya. "I know what spell you're using the tagas root for; I know you were checking the resurrection spell to see what she might not have told you. We're all supposed to feel sorry for her, because she let the magic run so deep in her, so uncontrolled, that now she can't handle it and we have one fewer line of defense. We wouldn't have survived the summer without her, and now--"
"We w-w-wouldn't have survived the summer without her," said Tara, pushing back the mention of the resurrection spell. That wasn't why she'd checked, but...why hadn't Willow told her what vino de madre was? Why hadn't she pushed to find out? Researching had made her wonder if Willow had done something to push her into acquiescence, but part of her knew that the truth was worse, that she had pushed herself into willful blindness because she could not stand the endless lurking pain in Dawn's and Willow's eyes, the brittleness in Willow's voice after she'd been programming the Buffybot. "We all pushed her to be our main line of defense, without considering consequences for her, and--that's one reason why I defend her."
"And you still love her," says Anya. "I suppose I would defend Xander too, even if he were behaving stupidly."
But if wasn't just that, although she couldn't say it to Anya. If Willow returned to magic, let herself fall into it again, how long would it be before Tara would be nothing but a smiling Tarabot, how long before Willow hurt them all out of longing and need and love?
Life in Shadow