spuffyduds ([info]spuffyduds) wrote in [info]open_on_sunday,
2006-04-03 22:40:00
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"Fool"ish Drabbles

The first one is set early in Buffy's Season 7, the second one post-Chosen.



Insane in the Basement


Her hand's reached out to him. Says this place is no good for him, something about Xander's apartment.

No. Won't be fooled again.

"Noonday sun, love," he says.

She flinches at "love." Maybe...she's real?

"Mad dogs and Englishmen," he says. "M'not a man anymore, a tame dog now, not in the club."

"It's two a.m., moron," she says.

Moron. He gasps with relief, reaches for her tiny hand.

His ghosts through it, and she laughs exultantly, delightedly, leans near his ear and he almost thinks he can feel her breath when she whispers, "Fooled you twice. Shame on you."



Fool to Cry


It hits Xander in McDonald's, of all places. He and Dawn are sitting in a Cleveland MickeyD's, taking a break from mapping pockets of Hellmouthy activity. He's bitching that the GPS Giles gave them is glitchy. Dawn's ignoring him, trying to draw obscene ketchup cartoons on her hamburger.

And he suddenly thinks, Anya will never annoy me again. Never ask me what part of a chicken the nugget is, or tell the fat guy at the next table he shouldn't have supersized that.

And Xander's wailing, stringing snot and grabbing napkins. And finding out that the goddamn tear duct still works.

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  • 28 comments

[info]redrikki

April 4 2006, 02:44:55 UTC 6 years ago

Gah! First one was great but the second one...poor, poor Xander. Excellent job.

[info]spuffyduds

April 4 2006, 13:42:36 UTC 6 years ago

Thank you! I enjoyed thinking up Anya's annoyances in that one.

[info]jans_intentions

April 4 2006, 02:47:37 UTC 6 years ago

Loved them both. Especially the sting of the first one. ^_^

[info]spuffyduds

April 4 2006, 13:43:35 UTC 6 years ago

Thanks! I always found First!Buffy really disturbing--I think it's that she seemed so much happier than Real!Buffy.

[info]cornerofmadness

April 4 2006, 03:12:41 UTC 6 years ago

nice set but the Xander one was just amazing

[info]spuffyduds

April 4 2006, 13:44:16 UTC 6 years ago

Oh thank you! I had trouble hacking it down to 100 words, I'm glad it worked!

[info]tis_nat

April 4 2006, 04:27:03 UTC 6 years ago

I loved them both. I really liked they way Xander remembered Anya and morned her, since we didn't get to see it on the show.

[info]spuffyduds

April 4 2006, 13:44:59 UTC 6 years ago

Thank you! I figured he and Buffy both had serious grief coming, they just didn't have time for it on Chosen.

Great icon!

[info]scarlettlily

April 4 2006, 04:40:44 UTC 6 years ago

Both are great but you can feel the sting in the first and the moment of realization in the second.

[info]spuffyduds

April 4 2006, 13:46:13 UTC 6 years ago

Thanks! I love it when I can manage that little--not punch line, exactly, but a sort of moment when the drabble hits all at once. Glad they worked for you!

[info]twilightofmagic

April 4 2006, 05:14:16 UTC 6 years ago

Very strong drabbles--I mean muscular writing, doesn't flinch from. Terrific.

[info]spuffyduds

April 4 2006, 13:46:47 UTC 6 years ago

Appreciate that very much! (Will go about all day feeling muscular...)

[info]bknut3

April 4 2006, 05:14:52 UTC 6 years ago

Just wonderful..great pieces.
Mary

[info]spuffyduds

April 4 2006, 13:47:24 UTC 6 years ago

So glad you liked!

[info]pictureplaces

April 4 2006, 06:42:55 UTC 6 years ago

Fantastic drabbles the first one, poor spike!!! i just like the "Fooled you twice. Shame on you." line that is brilliant! and the second one aw poor poor Xander.

[info]spuffyduds

April 4 2006, 13:48:38 UTC 6 years ago

Thank you! First!Buffy is mean, isn't she? Glad you liked them.

[info]the_wild_iris

April 4 2006, 11:23:13 UTC 6 years ago

Both fantastic. I love how you include a really apt thumbnail portrait of Anya, even though she's not even in the drabble.

[info]spuffyduds

April 4 2006, 13:50:09 UTC 6 years ago

Thank you! Anya was interesting to work with here because the basic "off-ness" of her character tilted things toward the absurdist side of grief. If that makes any sense. Thanks for liking!

[info]a2zmom

April 4 2006, 12:29:40 UTC 6 years ago

Two incredibly powerful pieces. Amazing, emotional writing.

[info]spuffyduds

April 4 2006, 13:54:03 UTC 6 years ago

Thank you lots!

I was thinking about a couple of things in "Fool to Cry." Obviously, Anya's riff on all the things Joyce will never do again. But also a documentary on that murdered San Francisco--councilman, I think?--that I saw years ago. "The Times of Harvey Milk," I believe. Anyway, I knew nothing whatsoever about the case before watching this, and was just sobbing by the end of it, mostly because one of his friends said something like, "When I saw him in the coffin, all I could think was, 'God, he's got such tiny feet.'" The weird things that hit you, mid-grief...

[info]shinodabear

April 4 2006, 19:04:54 UTC 6 years ago

Dawn's ignoring him, trying to draw obscene ketchup cartoons on her hamburger.

Ha! I'm gonna try that now. . . ;) (that was a heartbreaking drabble by the way. being reminded of Anya in McDonald's of all places.) Fantastic drabbles.

[info]spuffyduds

April 5 2006, 04:33:30 UTC 6 years ago

Thank you! Anya seems like she would sneak up on you in unexpected places, even after she died.

What are you doing with that ketchup? Tsk.

[info]bluefall

April 5 2006, 09:05:20 UTC 6 years ago

And finding out that the goddamn tear duct still works.

Ouch, poignant. That's a very strong last line, because it's very Xander - focusing not on the emotions but the visceral process of crying, the grossness and the frustration. Forestalls cliche and cleaves tightly to good characterization. Lovely.

[info]spuffyduds

April 5 2006, 11:38:43 UTC 6 years ago

You know, I hadn't really thought that through--it just happened. But hey, I'll take the credit for subconscious planning!

Thanks very much, for reading and for writing!

[info]untitleddemo

April 6 2006, 06:45:30 UTC 6 years ago

Oh Spuffyduds, how I love thee, let me count thy ways. You rock my world, missy. If you weren't so busy being a wife/mother/employee/student, I would give some serious consideration into harassing you like woah, for a long fic. But as it is, you continue to blow me away with your lovely, wondermous drabbles. ::adores you:

Another Spike! Another Spike! Oh, and it is soooo damn good. You fooled me too, you know. :D The First is so wickedly awesome at knowing just what to say to get under a person's skin. You made my wee heart clench at the last line. Simply gorgeous.

Never ask me what part of a chicken the nugget is, or tell the fat guy at the next table he shouldn't have supersized that.

Aww, that's my Anya! And, ahem, Xander's too. ;D Adored this drabble as well. Just utterly heartbreaking. And stuff like that really does hit you upside the head all at once in the middle of some public place. I never manage to break down in the privacy of my own home. Once again, the last line totally kicks ass. Hey, do you mind if I rec you something? Every time I think of my Anya dead and gone I like to imagine that she's living the afterlife portrayed in [info]doyle_sb4's Could Times Infinity Plus One, which you can find here. Have you read it before? I think it's amazing and cool and everything that should actually be.

Wowzzers! This feedback has gone on for forever! Sorry for spamming you with the ramblings of my mind. I truly adored these, and can't wait to see what you come up with next! *hugs*

[info]spuffyduds

April 9 2006, 05:35:18 UTC 6 years ago

I love your spam, not to worry! Your spam is caviar. And I have actually read and adored that doylesb4 story--gorgeous and dreamy.

And hey, harass me to work on my novel!

[info]untitleddemo

6 years ago

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[info]untitleddemo

6 years ago

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