Revival
THANK YOU FOR ADDING THAT LAST SCENE T.T it's perfect ❤️ I wanted to cry in joy with Buffy when faith remembered. And I love that giles got to see Jenny again and that she could finally tell him all that she had wanted to say and can now Rest In Peace. Thank you thank you thank you!!!
Author's Response:Thank you!! :) Glad you enjoyed. Can't believe how fast you whipped through all of these!
I opened this one right before falling asleep, and read it when I woke up the next morning. But I totally forgot how long it was, so it really took me by surprise when I reached the end so quickly! The set up was brilliant and really felt like we were headed for a much longer story, but you still managed to wrap it up believably. And thank you for adding the ending, it was definitely needed!
Also, I got really stressed out when Buffy wouldn't move away from the circle. Goddammit woman, move!!!
Author's Response:I think it really just speaks to how over the top incapable of writing short stories I am, that this is almost 10k and you felt like it was shorter than expected. 🤣🤣 lol, but if she moved we wouldn't have a dramatic countdown kiss! And clearly that was needed. 😄
thanks for the happy ending!! i like that faith woke up in the end :)
Author's Response:Thank you! Glad you enjoyed! :)
Just cruising for something to read and stumbled across this amazing story.
Very neat idea that's well realised and nice to see Buffy reaching out to Faith and Faith trusting her enough to respond.
And the whole scene where they had to undo the spell and so Faith spends one last day with Buffy is beautifully well written...and then they kissed! :)
Oh, man that was a good scene.
Plus Faith talking with Miss Calender was incredibly touching...I'm a big Giles/Jenny fan.
I do love that you put in a 'when Faith wakes up' scene as a coda, just for that nice happy feelgood ending.
This was, as always, great.
Author's Response:Have you stumbled on the other fics that were in the Halloween contest last year, too? :) There were some great ones.
I love Giles/Jenny too! I mean not enough to like spend my time writing them or reading about them, but I did love them on the show. I never wrote Jenny before, so I hope she sounded Jenny-like. If not, err, fanwank that the afterlife has made her more zen?
I have a love/hate relationship with Season 4 because I so desperately wanted Buffy to reach out to Faith in a stronger way than she had tried before, and really get through to her. I will take any opportunity to re-write it my way, haha. I'm glad you liked it, thank you. :) I guess sometimes you have to stick the happy ending on instead of leaving the readers with pitchforks... :p
This is a really interesting premise with a great execution. It's like if you crossed Buffy and that movie Awakenings with some vague zombie stuff rolled in. I really, really liked it. Well done!
Author's Response:Haha, hooray for vague zombie stuff! :) Thank you, glad you enjoyed it.
And of course since I'm writing this on my phone at work on my break, i forgot some things.
That scene on the porch between Jenny and Faith gave me feels i didnt even know i could have. I wonder now what kind of influence Jenny could have had on Faith in season 3 had she lived. Ugh.
And the night before the spell, with Buffy and Joyce sitting with Faith, finally giving her a happy family memory that she might never get again?
Just kill me, why dont you?!
Author's Response:Jenny would certainly have been more perceptive than Giles. And with her take no shit attitude, I could see that being a really good influence in Faith's life. Go forth and write it, Kasey!
Funny how you picked up on the line with Joyce, which was so quick. :) I love Joyce and I could see her doing this.
Ugh, God dammit you're good.
The set up of this story is amazing, from the little kid making a wish (and shame on me, knowing that was the point of the story but not realizing that Hallie was Halfrek almost until the word "wish" was said aloud), to the dead and comatose and in between all rising but not coming fully to life (so creepy). Your execution of the story is impeccable, namely Jenny and Giles' reunion and Buffy's first thoughts going straight to Faith coming out of her coma .
How the hell do you write this well, this consistently? I could see all of this playing out in my head, almost like i was watching the show. The scene where they're ready to send Faith and Jenny back, especially. It reminded me so much of the end of I Will Remember You from Angel in it's emotional intensity. As much as I'm usually a fan of open endings, I'm glad you showed us Faith waking up for real, and remembering.
Well done, my friend!
Author's Response:Switching gears for the moment... :) Thank you! Were you expecting Anya rather than Halfrek? The worst part of writing this story was the amount of time I was trying to get this done in and staying within the word count. I wanted to expand and expand on the newly undead of all types, but I had to follow Buffy for the sake of brevity. :p I did love including Jenny tho. Her death totally gutted me (shakes fist at Angelus). If I were more well rounded, perhaps I'd have focused more on them and their feelings, but alas, I struggle through scenes that aren't fuffy. :p
I love the scene in IWRY, so thank you so much for that comparison! :D
glad you didn't leave it! :)
Author's Response:Thanks! :) Gotta go for the total happy ending sometimes. :p
Oh my goodness, Jenny!! Really enjoyed this fic; just enough smushyness and just the right amount of angst!
"It's happening again".... hehe...
Side note: when can we expect the next instalment of The Girl From Away? I think I'm suffering from withdrawal...
Author's Response:Thank you! :) Glad you liked it.
Fear not, your withdrawal will be abated today or tomorrow, depending on when my beta gets back to me. :p
Aww, that part leading up to Willow and Giles casting the spell and Faith returning to her coma.... Great, now I've spilled feels all over the place :,c
This was so wonderful though, honestly, from start to finish. The fantastic descriptions, the tender moments, and the angst too. It was all great! I particularly enjoyed the scene where Faith is musing about going back into a coma, possibly forever, and then Jenny shows up. Oh, god, here come the feels again :c
ANYWAY, I loved it, in case that wasn't clear. Personally, I don't think you needed the added bit at the end, but it's not like I'm gonna complain about an added scene where Faith and Buffy kiss :D
Author's Response:Thank you!! :) *picks up feels and hands them back, along with tissue* I sort of loved the tragedy of having it end with her collapsing, but it's nice to give a solid happy ending as well. I agree that any extra kissage is of the good, haha!
But Imrryr, where is the other fic I was promised?? :p
This is excellent! I love the idea of it being an almost literal All Souls' Day - the dead coming back to life - and incorporating Jenny into it was brilliant too. Her scene with Faith was great, setting up that not-so-final kiss...
The ending is nice too, though I have to say I wouldn't have minded if it'd been left up to the imagination - it works fine either way, IMO.
Great work!
Author's Response:Ah, a sadist after my own heart. ;) Leaving the readers' imaginations to take over is always my preferred way. Admittedly I do usually leave my endings open, so I suppose I was do to write a legit happy ending. :) Thank you!
You bet your sweet cheeks I hunted you down to get a sweet sweet fix of that Fuffy medication.
This story was great, perfect for the holiday season. Was outraged when the only solution was for Faith to go back, but loved the countdown. Was even happier with the ending!!
Squiz.
Author's Response:Hey Squiz! Thanks!! :)
The outrage makes the ending sweeter (or so I tell myself as I write angsty fic after angsty fic!).
Hunted me down?? *blush* from where haha?
As I was reading this I kept thinking "no way she's waking up again". You have no idea how happy I am that I was wrong!
It's refreshing to read that Buffy doesn't hang on to her anger. She seems to realize there's more important issues than what happened in the past. Love how Faith acts throughout, too. She doesn't run and that's a nice change from other stories, too.
My favorite part though was how Joyce ended up comforting Faith that last night. Love that small action so much. Great story!
Author's Response:Thank you! :) I would probably have dragged Buffy's forgiveness out a bit, but was limited by word count. :p
The Joyce part was such a throwaway line, but I guess it stood out because I think someone else mentioned it too. :)
Hahaha that was awesome!
Good fun while still dealing with some deep stuff.. Loved it
Love the way you ended it..glad you were persauded to add the last scene.
Author's Response:Thank you!! Glad you liked it! :) I am glad it seemed a little fun too. I was writing and thinking omg angst again?? Hahah.
Fantastic as always. Well done!
Author's Response:Thank you! :)
Good story, shame its only a one shot. More development and plots can be done with chapters. Still good though. XD
Author's Response:I know. :p I think I've got enough long fics in progress. I can't take on another, haha! Thanks. :)
I loved it, very bittersweet. The countdown part had me sobbing!
im glad they got a HEA.
thank you you for writing this.
Author's Response:Thank you!! :) I'm sorry to make you cry.
As previously mentioned I really enjoyed this. You incorparated halloween in a subtle way that was overshadowed by the raising of the dead, the very dead, and the not quite dead yet.
It can be hard to differentiate a halloween episode from others when it comes to a show like Buffy the vampire slayer. Every day is like halloween there in that town! :D
Zombies and ghosts parading the streets is like every other Friday in Sunnydale.I thought the ways you used the wish were really clever, especially with the undustable vampires, and it gave the story more depth to see variations on what 'never leaving' might look like.
All the characterisations were top notch as ever - would have loved to have read the gang's reactions to the slayers' sudden and intense make out session. I can picture Xander's look of awe and astonishment as silent tears slide down past the mad grin on his joyous face.
I was expecting the Mayor to come back in snake demon form just to add more angst on top of the nice little angst pile you'd started but I get that would have dragged on a little too long for this competition.
You may have my vote...still got to read the others.
Author's Response:I don't think Season 4 Xander would be that excited about Buffy and Faith hooking up. More like confused and a little afraid. :p Poor Scoobs won't know what to make of things. I imagine Buffy had a lot of 'splainin' to do before Faith woke up (again). I was thinkin about the Mayor! Although he would have been a ghost not a snake, haha. But ultimately I was constrained by word count and could only squeeze so much in.
Did you check out the others? I loved them. :D
Thanks for adding the final scene. I can see the appeal for leaving it up to the imagination but still... a story ending like that would be so sad! We're Americans, we're all about happy endings and don't deal with tragedies quite so well. We ain't Greek! Anyway that was a lovely story. Buffy and Faith made up very quickly but it was neccessary in a story this short.. but how they made up was great and credible. Buffy admitting the whole trying to kill Faith and how sorry she was etc. was a great scene that I think will the the one scene in this story that will stick with me. Well that one and desperately kissing with one minute left to go. That was pretty darn great too.
Great job with this story :). It was so sweet!
Author's Response:Lol! I don't think we're all in the US. The British have invaded us. Perhaps they like a tragedy?
Thank you! This thing was behemoth sized compared to my typical chapter and still I was worried about the word limit. No time to drag out the making up, but I suppose I give them plenty of drama in other fics anyway. :p
That end note made me laugh.
I have to confess, I didn't think I had the energy to reread this fic. We've been going at it for days, and well... it felt like I was reliving a dream. Hahaha! But of course I had to read it one more time, after all I never got to see the end.
I wish the middle part, where B & F were together, was longer. I would have loved more fuffy moments. But you can only pack so much 'realistic' things in a day, right? The zombies not eating humans, ghosts, and vampires who keep regenerating, the possibilities are endless. I wonder if the historical figures also reappeared as ghosts. Hmmm...
“Life is incredibly unfair sometimes, but it also gives us unexpected gifts. Take it, Faith. If you’ve only got today, make it count.” ~~ this hit a spot in my heart.
The part I loved the most was the countdown. The kiss. It reminded me of moments when you are saying goodbye to someone you love, like in an airport. When they're about to go away and you don't know if they'll come back. Except in this case, there's a chance that Faith might forget what happened.
So yes, I am glad that you gave us a happy ending. That note in the beginning made me worry.
Author's Response:Laugh deviously brcause you know you helped sway me into writing it? :p
Thank the gods there was a word limit or you would have had me adding to the middle for another week! Don't deny it; you know it's true!
The countdown was my favorite too, definitely. Fuffy kisses, what's not to love? :) I guess I'm glad I put the happy ending in too. Gotta have a solid happy ending occasionally.
I'm going to be late to work wirh all of these great stories popping up this morning, but it'll be totally worth it.
And you are *almost* forgiven for leaving a certain other series neglected for three weeks.
Great fic. Seriously.
Author's Response:Thank you. :) I loved the other entries too! Super cute.
As for the other, you know what they say, if you don't review, you can't complain about lack of updates. Okay, they don't say that, but it's still true! :p
Love it!!!
Liked that Joyce was happy to see Faith and that Faith took a bit of comfort from her when they were watching movies.
The scene with the countdown kiss was AWESOME!
Especially loved the end! And would have been pretty pissed if you ended it when Faith went back to sleep, very glad you didn't! Us readers need closure!!!
BTW when you updating The Girl From Away?
Author's Response:Thank you!! :) Closure is a myth, Cookie! Ya'll are stifling my need to end all stories open-ended and only quasi happy. :p Glad you liked it.
As for Girl, possibly this Thursday, but if not this coming week, the following one for sure. Hopefully with consistent weekly updates for the next several chapters at least.