Ichnobate 14 is up...EEEK!

[rabid1st]

Spooky things are really crawling out of the woodwork in Sunnydale. But the big bad's big plan is becoming clearer by the sentence. Will you find out what happened during the Spuffy night of passion? Maybe! Will Dawn escape from Wood's wicked clutches? Not telling! Will we ever learn the truth about the First?

Find the answers to these and other questions in the new chapter at:

http://www.geocities.com/rabid1st/ichnobate14.htm

Find the entire fic at my fic page:

http://www.geocities.com/rabid1st/fanfiction.html

As always I wait hat in hand for your reactions. Hope you enjoy it.

Rae

And remember...there is also new Sweet Spot AU...chapter 7.

Comments

[gobi-rex.livejournal.com]

Hey, I still need to catch up on SSAU, but comments shall be forthcoming soon. Can't wait to catch up on Ichnobate!

Oh...I'm all gaspy now...

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

...and tapping my fingers as I wait for the Gobi review...but...you know, no pressure. Read and enjoy. I am here to provide you with Spuffy.

Rae
tap...tap...tap...

[thisficklemob.livejournal.com]

D'oh. Well, I just sent you a beta. Chances are, you already dealt with most of my issues. Feel free to skim my comments and amuse yourself with my own comma erraticness as I tweak yours. But as I said, I liked the chappie.

No Caia beta goes to waste

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

You are a trooper for sending this...and I will be thrilled to read all your comments and burbling.

I am sure I will find something to change from your work.

Smooches, Rae

[gobi-rex.livejournal.com]

And once again you reduce me to incoherent grunting and pointing! [shakes finger at Rae]

To get some things out of the way: OMG!eleventy111!one!!!! THAT scene from End of Days! [whimper] Way less traumatizing that the original and so much more effective than chocolate.

Ahem, back to serious matters. I'm really enjoying this exploration into what it means to be a slayer. In this chapter, we have Buffy's telling dreams-not-dreams (Btw, love Spike's reactions to Buffy's frantic behavior). And then what Tara says about slayer power depending on the power of the enemy - very intriguing and very plausible. I love your brain, Rabid.

“It's not about good or evil. Right or wrong. It's about the power. The Slayer is death...pure, unadulterated destruction...contained and directed. But it comes to everyone, good or bad, sooner or later.”

Another take on a line from S7, I believe.

I really enjoyed the Giles/Ethan interaction. I can just see Ethan saying those lines, that git. He makes a terrific villain.

It's sooo good to see Tara again, even as a phantasm. And even better to have her be the one to counsel Dawn. Because at this point Tara is only person Dawn is likely to listen to.

“Look at it this way,” Tara said. “Your spell was broken prematurely but I still manifested as me. There's just something wrong with my clothes.”

I'm not hormonal today, but damn, this line just made me sniffle... I don't even know why.

“Maybe I had it wrong,” Tara mused. Her eyes flickered back into color. “Maybe it wasn't the urn breaking...”

Alright, now *this* is very intriguing. Yes. I really like what you're exploring here: that Dawn also needs to find what it means to be Dawn.

Yet another marvelous chapter, Rae. This is going to be one hell of a fic (no pun intended).

Thank you, Gobi for your feedback

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

You are the bestest reader a fanfic writer could wish for...HUGS! Let's see...uhm...yes, you are correct I used the S7 lines and sentiment...I didn't disagree with those lines at all. In fact, up until Storyteller aired, I assumed Joss Whedon and I were telling the same story (I was just writing waaay slower). This stopped Ichnobate all together for a time because I was so certain JW would somehow come back to his storyline and do a better job with the tale than I was going to do.

;-D And then there was the crushing disappointment. LOL!

I enjoyed bringing back Ethan and Tara because I think they have visceral impact for the fans (you can do a lot with fan attachment). I was telling Zyrya that I think Amber Benson was right to turn down the Conversations with Dead People role because it would have left a seriously bad taste in the mouth after the way Tara died to have her playing EVIL. I think the fan backlash would have been extreme.

And go you, Gobi! You caught the Tara reconsideration of the urn breaking ideea...very important because (as a careful reader like yourself probably already knows) the Spike's chip excuse may no longer apply...which means Tara's original calculations may have been based on a false premise: That Buffy had a cellular sunburn and that's why Spike could hit her. Hopefully, everything will fall into place as we rush toward the end.

Oh...and WHY? WHY? WHY? Didn't JW use Angelus to effect when he had DB on set? Talk about wasting the moment...sheesh! Who looked at that opportunity and thought...NO, let's have a totally out of character lip-lock?

Rae
giddy with your feedback as usual...thanks bunches! Hope you got to read SS-AU, too! I know you spoil me (and I don't want to discourage that :-) )but you can just give me a thumbs up or down if you don't have time for a Gobi-standard review!