Oh wow this is devastating but so freaking tender at the same time. Faith and her willingness to flow Buffy anywhere wrecks me every time. I hope they find Dawn and somehow are able to turn back time or save everyone >.< although I know that's a low possibility. Thank you for sharing this fic with us!

Author's Response:

Thank you!!

<sniff>

 

Awwww... :(

Author's Response:

*hands you a tissue*

Hey, I was reluctant to read because you warned me about the angst. You know my love-hate relationship with it.

Dawn died and apocalypse ensues. I didn't expect a nuclear explosion (who nuked them?). That was surprising. The nuke and them living underground reminded me of the Benicio Del toro vampire trilogy.

I felt really sad for B&F. Your writing made everything sound so depressing and haunting. Who knows if they'll find a happy ending. Maybe not. Can I ask you and bother you? You can lie and say they're gonna find a fairy in the end and all will be well.

Seriously though, in spite of the darkness that is surrounding them, there is still a bit of hope left in me because... fuffy! All is not lost when our slayers are clinging together.

I didn't expect to feel good after reading a very bleak story but I really did love this. You win at writing post-apocalypse stories.

Author's Response:

You told me not to tell you where the bombs came from, so I'll leave it up to your interpretation. :) I haven't read the books you mentioned. I guess after Buffy, I don't like how anyone else does vamps, haha. 

I won't lie and say they'll have a happy ending, but Buffy would have eventually come to terms with things and tried to pick up the pieces. 

Thank you! Where is my prize for winning? :)

I just love your post apocalyptic angst writing.  This was sweet, bittersweet but sweet. You take the smallest details like the fact that in a post apocalyptic world Buffy wouldn't be able to or focused on keeping her hair blonde, this gives the characters depth and makes the story that much more realistic. And that last line "happily ever after has never been in her cards, but following Buffy to the ends of the earth, that's close enough." A perfect end to this lovely little ficlet, lovely for its brevity yet fully painting a picture of holding on to the smallest bit of light, and humanity.  Write another one okay. Please with cherries and whipped cream. Maybe sweet isn't the word some would use to describe this story but there was this feeling underneath the destruction and death and grind of surviving, of Faith following and being there for a broken Buffy that felt right hence the term sweet. 

Author's Response:

Another one of these? Haha. But I have other fics to do! :p I just might get to the Omega sequel sometime in your life time, so I hope that'll meet your apocalypsey needs.

Thank you, very glad you liked it. :) I know what you mean by sweet. I love the idea of Faith as Buffy's rock too. 

So I meant to review this last night, but I fell asleep first, and now I'm kinda glad I did, because it put a little more distance between "Ashes" and "Shot in the Dark." As I said there, and as I'm sure I'll say again the next time you post a new story. 

I love this. So much. 

Your writing never ceases to amaze me. You put so much into so few words. I know this is just a ficlet, a huge idea in a small package, but it packs a punch, and speaks to a lot of larger themes that its 1300 words would have you believe. I could see everything so clearly. Even Buffy's hope that she could save Dawn, that they'll find her and end all of these huge things, was a tangible presence.

It gets tossed around a lot, the idea of Buffy losing and a Big Bad really, truly taking over the world. I rarely see it done so effectively as this, mainly because you brought the real world into it. They don't live in a vacuum. This world they're always trying to save is full of real people, just trying to live their lives, but it also contains a government that isn't just going to allow an invasion of any kind to go on without intervention. Is bombing most of the west coast, with millions of people still living there, the way to do it? Apparently not, because the demons keep coming. But only Buffy and Faith and a handful of others would know that.

And that's what really makes this story click for me: even after the world they know is gone, due to demons, due to bombs from their own government, Buffy and Faith push on, fueled by each other and the only truth they've really ever known as Slayers: save the day. 

Whatever that means anymore. 

Author's Response:

You are like a master reviewer. I need to learn your secrets. Every time I review something I'm like uhhhh words, how do they work?

You somehow took my super depressing fic and made it seem even more depressing with the 'save the day. Whatever that means anymore,' line. But it's true. There's nothing they can really save anymore. All Buffy has is this idea of her sister--and I'm not sure if it was clear from this abbreivated fic, but it was meant to convey that essentially Dawn is dead, it's merely the last few drops of blood in her body that they've magically put in stasis--and of finding her so that she can have a proper death/burial. In reality, she still had Willow and Giles and she could have kept that family alive, but she's too haunted by failing Dawn to see that. Then you have Faith, who really had nothing to begin with, but this broken down Buffy is the only thing there is to cling to, so she follows her lead even though she might have wanted to stay somewhere and try for a better life. If this had been longer, they would have had a more uplifting ending, and Buffy could have eventually started to come around, but alas, it wasn't meant to be.

It's interesting your found the real people to be engaging, because you only saw very little of them. :p I was debating whether the US govt is nuking our own cities now or whether it's the other countries. I think it could go either way. The rest of the world would see dragons start flying over their head and be like GOD DAMN IT USA, WTF ARE YOU DOING NOW? And see if bombing us into the Stone Age would work. Of course it wouldn't, and I'd bet there are lots of demons that would thrive on nuclear energy (yes, I have watched Godzilla, why do you ask??). I kind of loved the idea of mankind throwing every weapon they could at these demons and the demons only getting stronger and stronger. Basically destroying the planet for nothing. The Buffy and Faith would put on some gas masks and walk through the dead country having no reason to live anymore except that neither of them wants to give up on the other. FEEEEEEEELINGS, talking 'bout FEEEEEEEELINGS.

I see that I've rambled on long enough, so I'll just say thank you. You're lovely and awesome and I will write all the things just to get your reviews because they are lovely and awesome too! Much appreciated!! :D

I usually steer well clear of pure angst fics, but for some reason I'm really intrigued by Post-apocalyptic scenario's and their aftermaths.

S5 and Glory is the prime one I feel, because technically, although Glory lost, so did Buffy, and she was never truly the same after.

 

This was good, depressing but good.

You sum up the grim hopelessness of the 'brave new world' quite eloquently, but also don't leave out the closeness that can come from clinging onto those few relationships left.

Ever cloud, as they say, no matter how dark...

And Buffy is Faith's silver lining. Aw.

There's always room for snuggles, no matter how grim. :)

Thanks for sharing.

 

Author's Response:

I don't know that Faith is really Buffy's silver lining, to add to the grimness haha. But you're certainly right about her being Faith's. Originally the plan for this fic was to follow them for a while, so it wouldn't have been pure angst. There was an uplifting moment or two. The writing goddesses didn't cooperate with me though. :p 

Apocalypse fics are so my jam (obviously heh) so I was really disappointed this one didn't work out for me. I like angst that makes sense as opposed to angst for the sake of angst. Fluff is one of my least favorites because I feel like the angst makes the fluff more satisfying. :p 

Thanks for reading!! :)