Giles took off his glasses, cleaned them, and put them back on. “When you died it was so much worse for all of us than when you were missing, and then you came back but you came back in so much pain. Being pulled out of heaven the way you were. You spent a year wallowing in that pain before it began to heal, before you really got back into the fight.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Pain and despair. The First gets its power from the evil inherent in the world, but I think it can also become more powerful from pain and despair.”
“But there is always pain and despair in the world. What made these instances different?”
“I think it was the pain and despair of heroes that made the difference to the First. Those that
usually fight against evil, suddenly being in too much pain to be effective. You and Angel, and to a much lesser extent, Willow, Xander, and I.”
“So it really was my fault?”
“No. Buffy, you couldn’t help how you were feeling under those circumstances. The point is that you came back both times. When you are back in the fight the First begins to lose some of its power. It had to act on Angel when it did. It had to try to create greater despair so that it could continue its surge in power, but it wasn’t strong enough. It wasn’t ready. With your death it became so much more powerful, and it continued to increase its power, even after it began to try to destroy the slayer line.”
“By convincing us that there was no point in fighting it? That it was too powerful to defeat?”
“Yes, exactly. The minute you decided we were going to win, we were already halfway there.”
“So we can really never know when it might come back. With all these new slayers we created, any one of them could unintentionally help the first.”
“I hadn’t really thought of that. I suppose you are right. We need you here Buffy. We need you to help prepare these girls. We need you to help prepare them for what they are going to have to face.”
“I’ll think about it.” Buffy smiled and took another sip of tea.
Giles smiled and took another sip of tea, confident his slayer would come through for him.
A nice solid flow of dialogue, sj.
A couple of things:
“It’s and Aga
an Aga. (Damn, I love those stoves; my grandmother had one.)
“When you died it was so much worse for all of us then when you were missing,
'than' when, not 'then when'.
and, a structural question:
If you would rather just settle in somewhere quiet with Dawn. Get a job or go back to school. You have given up your life twice in the fight against evil. I understand if you need a, but if you backing down from this because you are scared or unsure about what you have to offer...”
The first half of this is done in partial sentences, rather than entire sentences, structurally. It happens in a few places - was this deliberate?
In the second half, I think there's a word missing: "I understand if you need a, but"
Other than those, well done!
Damn, nearly forgot: erika, the Evil Hand's not separate from his body. Angel cut it off and the Evil Doctors at WOlfram and Hart replaced with a Satanic Hand, that has a mind of its own.
A nice solid flow of dialogue, sj.
Thank you. I usually think I am so bad at dialogue. Typos fixed.
(Damn, I love those stoves; my grandmother had one.)
I love them too. Some friends of mine sell them, and I was able to go to a cooking demonstration for one in England.
The first half of this is done in partial sentences, rather than entire sentences, structurally. It happens in a few places - was this deliberate?
Yes, it was deliberate.
Other than those, well done!
Thank you!
He has an evil, seperated from his body...hand.?!Unlike my left one, that does impressions thereof. So yes, I pretty much type one handed...hope I don't go blind, too.
Damn, nearly forgot: erika, the Evil Hand's not separate from his body. Angel cut it off and the Evil Doctors at WOlfram and Hart replaced with a Satanic Hand, that has a mind of its own.
deb, lovely, fun drabble. I think I know gave erika the impression you were writing about a detached hand. This section:
He rolls it, flexes it, kneels carefully. The guitar case has three snap-latches; the first two are fine, the third the hand skitters across the top. Fucking tease.
The "the first two are fine, the third the hand" is a little confusing. I think I missed reading the "the" prior to "hand" there on my first read, and so had to read it twice to get what you meant. I figured it out, because I have a guitar, and its case has 3 latches. At first, I did read it as if you meant 3 hands. Drabbles are so tight word-wise, I'm not sure what to suggest to clarify.
cereal--because I'm an idiot and submitted too soon...
sj, that's your first? That's a good story. Oh, if our show had only made so much sense. I love the despair premise. I like the details of the tea, the continuity shout-out, and Giles cleaning his glasses. Very good. More, please.
The "the first two are fine, the third the hand" is a little confusing. I think I missed reading the "the" prior to "hand" there on my first read, and so had to read it twice to get what you meant. I figured it out, because I have a guitar, and its case has 3 latches. At first, I did read it as if you meant 3 hands. Drabbles are so tight word-wise, I'm not sure what to suggest to clarify.
I thought that too. Maybe a comma after "third", deb.
It's a nice drabble.
Thankee.
Fixed, to read:
He rolls it, flexes it, kneels carefully. The guitar case has three snap-latches; the first two are fine, third latch, the hand skitters across the top. Fucking tease.
I wanted to keep the staccato rhythm of it, since despite the third person, the hand is really being viewed through a filter of Lindsey's exasperation with it.
Ok, then...Lindsey's hand works like...my whole body. Because, essentially the wiring is only indifferently connected. My brain sends messages that only parts of me can pick up. Which freaks out the muscles(don't you love my mastery of all these technical concepts?)
Sj, most excellent rendition of the Buffy & Giles relationship. Good voices, too.
erika, it's also pretty similar to what the MS does, in terms of signals.
I grok the Evil Hand, but mine's my left one.
