The Girl from Away
Lol marcie is fun I like her. Also damn Amy is scary
Author's Response:Marcie was so fun! I started a one shot about Marcie that's languishing half finished in my drafts hahah.
Yasssssssssss finally!! Lol damn I love these girls. Thank you for writing them so well and for giving me an escape from real life. I appreciate you <3
Author's Response:I appreciate you MORE THOUGH
Holy moly this is intense!! Really good imagery of the creatures
ackkkkkkkkk the pain T.T
Author's Response:I love pain, obviously. :D
Damn this is heartbreaking but so addicting
Omg so excited!!! Shit its cutting close to getting ready for work time. Maybe I can squeeze in one more chapter. I hope they're able to get faith out of prison >.<
GODDAMMIT WOMAN!! Why do you write so well that I have no choice but to binge through every one of your stories and be left so sad that I finished so quick and have to say goodbye to the characters but also satisfied because you always wrap it up so well??? Goddammit!!!
This was such a wonderful story! Bold move with the time jump, and at first I was a bit frustrated that we didn’t really get Alt!Buffy grieving for her lost life and girlfriend, but then I figured we already got that in the first story with Alt!Faith, so it would have been kinda redundant. Also, you clearly wanted to tell a very different story, so it made more sense when I got where we were headed.
I was delighted to find out that you weren't following the canon storylines and came up with such an inventive and exciting plot! Your brain is a wonderful place! At the height of the action, you had me go:
*dramatic voice*
“How could they poOossibly get out of this dire situatioOon??”
But they did! And then you tried to break all of our hearts by having Faith go back to prison because obviously she would keep beating herself up about her past mistakes until the world finally collapses and wouldn’t think she deserves love and happiness!
But thank youuu for giving her the happy ending she truly deserved!! Aaaah so good, so good!
Can you tell I’m on a fanfic high? Who needs drugs when we can snort up your stories like fine blow! Too far? Okay too far. Stay away from drugs kids, the only lines you should do are made of words!PS: Faith + Willow + Cabin? You’re not my real OTP and you never will be!!
Author's Response:Hahaha. Thank you! it was definitely a treat seeing my email full of reviews from you!
I think you're exactly right on why I did the time jump. I didn't want to do the same thing I'd just done with Flowers, but I also didn't want Faith to leave prison prematurely either. Plus I thought it was interesting to answer the question, what would the adjustment process look like nearly two years later?
This was probably one of my more ambitious stories with the plot added, and I loved writing it. It was super fun coming up with Amy's various creepy crawlies and pitting them against our characters. Plus, no dead lesbian. Perfect.
I don't remember now exactly how I came up with the ides for Faith to leave and then come back, but I do love the relationship between Faith and Angel, so I imagine I probably wanted him to kind of set her straight. She needed someone aside from Buffy to believe in her and tell her she could do a lot of good on the outside.
I'm not going to rain on your parade, even if you do look a little twitchy... ;)
Lol at Faith +Willow +cabin. I forgot I sent them to a cabin. No sexy snuggles or anything. Obviously the inferior trio.
New review, same feelings. The characterization is just exceptional. Faith's reaction to Alt!Buffy's attentions is just so Faith and so in character! Same for Alt! Buffy's behavior in front of the other slayer's bad behavior, Willow's new version of her power abuse, it's all so perfectly defined that I am at a loss for words and I have no idea what to begin with. Faith is a difficult character to represent and you did so perfectly without turning her into a saint. That's what I like about her and what makes her my favorite character and that's probably why I loved your stories so much. My girl ain't no saint and she has been defined by her mistakes both by herself and by the Scoobies which is something I have always found incredibly unfair but that's just my point of view. Okay, this gigantic wall of text was just to thank you as a Faith fan and to tell you to keep up the good work.
Author's Response:Thank YOU for commenting! I love seeing these stories still find new people. This one was one of my more plot heavy stories too, which made it fun to write but also challenging. I totally agree with your feelings about Faith and that's something I love about her too. She's got a lot of flaws and she's super self sabotaging but it's also totally understandable with what we know of her past and her life. Plus the chip on her shoulder is basically a boulder. I would say Buffy's my favorite and I'm definitely a Buffy girl, but Faith is my runner up. Such an incredible character. I'm glad you felt like I did her justice! 😊😊
I LOVE IT!! Buffy and faith working together!
Author's Response:Thank you! Thank you!!! <3
omg long time jump!
oh no buffy and faith fight!
i loved the visitation!!
loving this sequel
Yep, it's that time again. That time when I re-read your stories yet again. Thanks again for sharing. Happy dance from me.
Author's Response:Happy dance for me too. :) I'm sorry I was gone so long, but I've started posting a new one now!
Wow!! I just discovered this story today, and it's so captivating, that I have to stop and comment before proceeding to next instead of sleeping at 3am.
Incredible characterization and very funny dialogue. I was wishing for sex, but glad that the chapter ended where it did....to give more depth to THIS Buffy and Faith relationship.
I am just in awe of thee author's finesse in writing. Thank you so much!
Author's Response:Thank you so much! I'm glad you're enjoying it! I hope you liked the rest of the fic as much (and that you weren't too sleep deprived).
This story has everything perfect all stuffed into it. It's definitely in my top 3 favorite fanfics, it might just be #1 to be honest. I couldn't stop reading it... Just ughh wow amazing. <3 keep up the beautiful writing ~ :)
Author's Response:Thank you SO much! :) Glad you enjoyed it. Always happy to be in someone's top 3. :)
I don't think I've said this, or if I have, I haven't said it enough, so I'm gonna say it now so I don't forget. I LOVE Marcie and Faith's friendship. I would read a whole story of the two of them just fucking with each other and other people and laughing about it. They're just so perfect for each other as friends I can't even stand it. Case in point, the opening scene of this chapter. It is, in a word, excellent.
Also excellent is the immense amount of sarcasm about the "gas leak." The writers on BtVS always had a knack for social commentary without turning their show into a massive PSA, and it's good to see that reflected here. It is amazing and frustrating how communities large and small can pull the wool over their eyes and believe whatever bullshit stories to avoid their massive problems. It's funny when it's "gas leaks" and "gangs on PCP" covering up demonic activity. Less funny when it's the stuff that's been on the news lately.
But I digress.
It caught me off-guard the first time I read this how adamant Faith is about going back to prison. Hell, it caught me off-guard that she wanted to go back at all. And then I re-read the whole thing again and realized just how little time she's out, and it made a bit more sense. She broke out because she was needed, and other than dying a little bit, things have worked in her favor. She saved Angel, she and Buffy mended the last bits of their relationship, she made a friend in Marcie, she helped save the world from Amy. But she still feels like she has to lock herself away to atone for her past mistakes. Thank goodness for Lorne and Angel for showing Faith her other options and setting her on the right path.
I'm not usually one for grand sweeping romanticism, but I love the end of this story. It's so perfect for this series to have Buffy and Faith, no matter what dimension either of them is from, coming back together with love in their hearts, coming home. I can't wait to read those one-shots you've promised, but for now, well done on a wonderful series. :)
Author's Response:I think you've said it haha. :) I am happy you liked them so much though! Marcie was really fun to write. Plus I just like when Faith has friends. Sunnydale denial syndrome is always awesome to play with. I think in an earlier fic I referenced that the incidence of barbecue fork stabbings had gone down since 1997 and snerked heartily to myself. :p
You aren't into sweeping romance?? Explains why you liked Flowers haha. :) I think part of why Faith wants to go back is because she wants Buffy so much. It's not just that she's done good out here, because certainly she thinks that helps balance the scales. But with Buffy there, it feels like she's getting a reward almost, and she doesn't feel that she should have that. She doesn't believe she deserves it, even as she works hard to do good. I actually totally neglected to put in a couple lines in her convo with Angel. When Angel brought up her feelings for Buffy, Faith was going to apologize to him, and Angel would say his Buffy is gone and she doesn't have to feel bad for loving her Buffy. Oops. Damn it, self.
I read a decription of alternate dimension pairings on tumblr, which someone succinctly phrased as, "every me loves every you" and that's how I felt about these two. Even the canon Buffy and Faith had this spark, it's just that everything in the world got in the way before they could really get there.
I guess I better admit I haven't been working on my one shots. I finished Shot in the Dark and Ashes then I started back on my next long fic. I will try to find the time to do these though because I think they'll be interesting additions to the verse. None of them are particularly fuffy packed, but I think you'll like them. :) thank you for all your wonderful reviews. You are great!! :)
I think part of what's kept me from reviewing this chapter, and the next, after so long is just how much story there is here. It's the climax of the big battle, yes, and that's exciting, but there's so much more going on that has to be addressed. And every single word you write is gold. GOLD. For fuck's sake.
Let's start with the Slayers. I told you not to kill Faith, didn't I? But then you went ahead and did it anyway, even if it was only for a minute or two. Is there going to be a new Slayer after all of this? Because as far as we know, the Slayer line goes through Faith, so it makes sense.... Is there a word for a sequel of a sequel? Threequel? I vote for that.
And Buffy and the skinbats (dibs on that as a band name, btw)....? That was just horrifying. How did you come up with all of Amy's chimeras and all of the nasty, awful things they can do? Because a bite that melts eyeballs? JFC that's disturbing. The giant coyote things, less so, but that's okay. The skinbats were more than enough for me. And Buffy. Poor Buffy.
Like I said, there was a lot going on in this chapter and the thing that struck me the most was how fast the timeline of this story has moved since Faith first comes back to Sunnydale. It's been, what, a week? Less? And they've had to deal with all kinds of awful things, plus Amy possessing the entire town, plus Willow potentially going bad, and Tara getting kidnapped and Faith dying. It's a lot to take in, and at first, it was too much. I think I've read this chapter about 5 or 6 times now and I'm still finding new things.
The more times I read this story, especially this chapter, the more I'm convinced that Amy was the absolute perfect villain. Her arrogance, her disregard of human life, her jealousy of Tara, all make so much sense even before seeing her life as Rat Amy. Getting inside her mind during those months and years, seeing Willow slowly start to neglect her, treat her more and more just like any old pet, seeing Amy lose her humanity day by day, was absolutely heartbreaking. Seeing what she's become because of it, and I understand Willow's desire to end her once and for all. Of course it's Tara to bring her back to earth. At this juncture, who else could have stopped her?
Author's Response:Yay! You're back! In my mind, yep there's a new slayer. :) Didn't have time to squeeze her in the final chapter. :p Amy's creepy crawlers just kind of appeared in my brain. *shrug* I was thinking they'd render Buffy blind, because I loved the scene of her training blindfolded and she was able to fend off everything flying at her. I wanted kickass blind Buffy. But then I thought why not totally destroy her eyes? Willow was going to do the heavy lifting in the finale anyway Buffy wouldn't have much ass to kick. :p
The timeline is supposed to be a couple weeks, which Buffy mentions in the next chapter. I'll confess though, I didn't plot it out very carefully. :) I loved writing the Amy Rat part. I thought of it right before bed and then had to stay up late on a work night to get it down on paper. I wanted there to be more to her than just evil villain. She suffered a lot too, as a human and then as a rat. I loved the idea that she was aware the entire time she was a rat. She was scared and lonely. She's obsessed with Willow because Willow was the only thing in her life, which was sometimes good and sometimes bad. I wanted Tara to see it because she would be someone who could understand and pity Amy, even though I didn't want to redeem her.
Tara would have saved Amy's life regardless, because she's Tara and that's what she does, but I wanted someone to understand that poor little rat girl. She didn't have to end up this way. I always loved on Buffy when the villains had this complexity to them. :)
Thanks for another wonderful fic. I was so torn up about Faith going back to prison, and I actually thought you'd do it, too. Very sneaky.
Consider me a loyal fan.
-A.R.
Author's Response:I am definitely evil enough to do that. :) But I thought ultimately her desire for Buffy would win out as long as Angel also approved of her staying out. I think without his blessing, Faith probably would have gone back to serve her time. Glad you liked it! Hope to see you reading the next one I've got going. :D
To answer your earlier question, I was distracted by shiny objects and various comic books;) But on to more important matters! Holy crap, woman! Amazing, amazing, amazing story. I loved it, start to finish. I loved how you fleshed out each character, how you brought Marci and Amy back, and just the plot line in general. I think the way you wrote Buffy and Faith was spot on. There was great character development throughout the story and it was actually very plausible. All in all, I tip my top hat to you ma'am. This and Flowers For A Ghost are two of the best Faith/Buffy stories I have read. Thank you for sharing.
Author's Response:Thank you so much! I'm very glad you had a lull in the shiny and you came to leave reviews. :D I'm really glad that people seemed to like the Marcie and Amy stuff. Marcie was fun, and Amy was a drag because I hate canon Amy. :p Thank you also for being a Flowers fan even tho I left those two at a less certain place. Hopefully I will get these little one shots out to finish up the series soon. :)
Am I fashionably late? :P
What's there to say, dear Alice? I loved this story. I loved its companion piece. They were both beautifully crafted and thought out, and I enjoyed every chapter (as rough as the last chapters were for you to finish).
I had to sit and think for a while why I enjoyed the second story so much, and I think I finally know why: it's because it's about the Faith we know from the series. Not a different version of her where there were no fuckups or epic grudges; this was *our* Faith with all of her scars and flaws and history, and Buffy still loved her; still was able to see all of the great things that we do underneath all the scary baggage.
It's like the Faith we know and love finally got her due. And it was awesome.
And they deserve to be happy together!
I was sad when you sent Faith away and was prepared to send you some nasty messages, but you fixed it. And you fixed it believably and without too much fuss. I appreciate that!
It's been an excellent ride, Ms. Wonderbra. I'm ready for whichever journey you're going to take us on next :)
Author's Response:"Fashionably" hmm? :P
I think I preferred Girl to Flowers also, as much as I love canon Buffy. The additional time from the dimension hop left room for healing and good stuff to flourish. Plus sometimes I find it hard to believe when canon Buffy gets super defensive about Faith and supportive of her with little development from where we left them in the show. Alt Buffy has motive to look beneath Faith's surface and figure out she loves her. :)
Reading your comments makes me almost want to go pick up B/F in Flowers so that Buffy can get her due too! She was totally underappreciated in Flowers, haha. Let's put that on my project list. ONLY KIDDING. Let's not get crazy.
I'm very glad you loved it and I hope you love the next one. :D
hate to see the end of your effing brilliant story but what a great ending it was
Author's Response:Thank you so much. Very glad you enjoyed it. :)
I have some bad news. You forfeited your cookie by pretending to send Faith back to prison. But I'm not unreasonable, and I bet not killing anybody must have been hard, so I give you permission to bake your own. Just the one though. And you're not allowed to actually eat it. So there. :p
Umm, so moving on. The story was wrapped up nicely, and things turned out well for everyone. Unless you're Amy, who now lives in a giant, frozen wheel (What does the E stand for in ICE?).
I can't remember a lot of the earlier chapters now, but the last couple were definitely good. Nice pacing, suspenseful, and left me guessing what was actually going on with Amy/Willow.
Ooh, is one of the one-shots Marcie related? I think you said it was somewhere, but I could be making that up. Just wondering where she's going back to and what an invisible person does all day (You know, if messing with people's heads ever gets old.).
You've written another half a story already? Is it because you have two keyboards (And four hands, obviously)? Not that I'm complaining (But I might about the lack of plot. We'll see. :p). Everything you write is consistently high quality so the more the better. :)
Author's Response:This is BS. I want that cookie!
Not killing anybody was kind of hard. I so wanted to bump at least one person off, but I figured some of the finales on Buffy involved no deaths, so I could manage to do it too. :D *pats self on the back* There is actually no E in the abbreviation but it sounds like ice when said aloud. Couldn't figure out how to convey that sensibly in the dialogue. :p
One of the one shots is Marcie centric, yep. :) I have some further plans for her. Invisible people need love too. We shall see when I get to writing it. I started it, but I'm working on my anniversary contest entry at the moment, so perhaps when I'm done I can pick it back up.
I only have two hands! And they are actually quite slow. Curse you, hands! The reason its half done is because I was writing it while writing Flowers. I stopped so I could complete Girl and get it done. Unfortunately my brain always wants to do the next fic before I'm done the current so I usually pick back up two years after having started a fic. This one is was started in early 2013 I think, unlike poor Girl which actually started before Flowers. :p I'm confusing my own self now. You'll probably complain about lack of plot but I will kill someone every time you do. So bear that in mind. >:)
Thank you as always for your feedback. :)
LOVED this series! Looking forward to the couple one-shots you have planned. Will they be in the other 'verse as well? (ie. the 'verse where the canon buffy is in the alt 'verse).
Great job ^_^
Author's Response:Thank you! :) I have 2 or 3 thoughts I'd like to make one shots. One is definitely in Girl-verse, the other two might be in Flowers-verse but I haven't decided exactly how I want to write them yet. :)
Yay for a happy ending! For a second I thought Faith would just back to prison and Buffy would be alone. So happy that wasn't the case. :)
It was interesting that the turning point for Faith changing her mind about prison was Lorne listening to her sing. Really enjoyed that! Then again, I loved every chapter of this one.
Can't wait to read anything else you come up with for these characters. :)
Author's Response:Thanks, Hayley! :) I did toy with the idea of Faith going back to prison for at least a while, but I felt like the two of them deserved a good end after I almost killed Faith and melted Buffy's eyes. :D I knew Angel had to be involved in Faith's decision because she looks up to him so much. Lorne's part just kind of happened but I was happy because I love Lorne. :) I hope I will do those couple of one-shots soon, but some other things are peaking my interest, so these may go on the back burner. :p We shall see!