So I read through all 5 chapters in one go when I realised that I'd read, and very much liked, your Faith one-shot.

 

I always enjoy Faith POV stories, and yours is a very original take on her, her road to redemption, and the Bffuy-verse as a whole. That's pretty had to do in a field as crowded as Fuffy tends to be! :)

You write really well, the story flows naturally from chapter to chapter, and all the characters have a real, distinct voice to them.

Faith starting over in Cleaveland was a real fresh view of her character, reading about her striving on her own before going back to Sunnydale was good, and also important.

I also like that your not rushing her relationship with Buffy, just keeping it ticking along in the background. Another good move.

I don't often say this but I enjoy all your original characters- Mark and Sara and Vi, I didn't think I would butI guess thet snuck into my affections just like they did Faith's.:)

Their pretty regular folks caught up in occult craziness- in this chapter especially I really enjoyed Sara and Vi's reactions to things.

And Willow! Honestly being a Faith fan and a Willow fan is hard sometimes, 'cause they really don't get on much. But I was glad to see them bond (and Willow lust a little bit...) when Faith asked her for help.

The Willow POV's were very true to her character- and it was nice to see her see Faith in a positive light with mentoring Vi and caring for her friends.

Overall I'm enjoying Faith being a badass Slayer and taking on W&H- interested to see where this goes. :)

 

Author's Response:

Thanks! Glad you're enjoying it!

Faith is the most interesting character to write from, not only for her problems but also because she's such a blank slate - but doesn't *feel* like a blank slate. It's great! And I disgree - Fuffy fanfiction tends to revolve around serveral very tired scenarios. There's room for so much more!

I picked Cleveland for its importance but overall lack of detail in the Buffyverse. I think I glossed over too much in the first chapter, but I also wanted a lot of that out of the way. Maybe sometime in the future I'll post an updated (and necessarily longer) chapter 1.

I want to see Buffy and Faith gravitate together in a healthy fashion. I hate angst with a passion, even though some authors (looking at you, too) write it well enough that I read the story anyways.

I'm glad you like my characters. I've tried to make them as genuine as possible. Faith's going to be jumping locations a fair bit, so I want Cleveland to be memorable as a home base.

Willow was fun to write, and the fits together with Faith almost better than Buffy does. I have a Fillow fic in mind; one day, I'll get around to writing and posting it!

Wolfram & Hart are nasty enemies. I figured that I'd introduce them to a better opponent than Angel could ever be.

I did sneak in an update, so I hope you like the new chapter just as much!

~OW