|
Post by Riff on May 1, 2005 18:29:02 GMT -5
"Her eyes became more focused and she looked at them all, a grin starting to appear. 'I knew you'd come through for me, boys.'"*happy sigh* This was such a beautiful chapter, Riff! Lola and Aboynamedduke pretty much summed up everything I feel about this chapter, so I don't have much more to add. But, I will say this--any story that can make me feel angsty, and make me laugh, cry, and finish it off with a big, goofy smile on my face--all in one chapter--is a very good story indeed. *a happy sigh here, too* I did hope for emotional reactions (there was quite a few from me, during the writing!) and so it’s extremely gratifying to hear that you enjoyed the chapter on that level. Thank you, Monnie! I look forward to learning what you think of the last chapter! Riff.
|
|
|
Post by Aboynamedduke on May 5, 2005 17:43:59 GMT -5
What on earth is going on? I came to get my Happy Endings fix and found no update. Is it not Thursday? Actually, thats possible... I lose track... But no! It is Thursday! Oh, cruel Powers That Be why do you deny me my Happy Endings?
Lol, no big deal I guess, just wondering when the next post was gonna be and expressing how much I like the series by complaining when I have to wait to read it. Anyway, no worries, hope to read the final installment soon.
|
|
|
Post by Queen E on May 5, 2005 17:50:46 GMT -5
What on earth is going on? I came to get my Happy Endings fix and found no update. Is it not Thursday? Actually, thats possible... I lose track... But no! It is Thursday! Oh, cruel Powers That Be why do you deny me my Happy Endings? Lol, no big deal I guess, just wondering when the next post was gonna be and expressing how much I like the series by complaining when I have to wait to read it. Anyway, no worries, hope to read the final installment soon. So sorry about that. It is available now, here: www.soulfulspike.com/happyendings/happyendings9.htm(We had a tragedy on the board, so things are moving a little more slowly this week.)
|
|
|
Post by Aboynamedduke on May 5, 2005 19:05:36 GMT -5
Oh, thank God, I was starting to have withdrawals. Not sure what I'll do once its over, but thanks alot for the link!
|
|
|
Post by Anne, Old S'cubie Cat on May 5, 2005 20:55:49 GMT -5
Oh, Riff. That was just so satisfying. Not just Fred and Wes (and I loved the Latin sweet talk), but Angel, doing something selfless for his friends by "retiring" them.
You even gave us hope for Angel. He's found his soul again.
Spike wrote the "Ballad", didn't he?
I loved Lorne and his snarky Magic 8 ball. I want one of those!
I worship at your feet. This is what Season 6 should be.
And the dedication... *sniffle*
Thank you.
|
|
|
Post by Aboynamedduke on May 6, 2005 8:00:43 GMT -5
Just learned of the tragic news about Patti. I should really look around the rest of the site more often. I apologize if my last few posts came off as rude or insensitive given the weight of the situation. I wasn't aware at the time what was going on and my excitement over the final episode of Happy Endings was overtaking me. Anyway, I was very happy with this chapter and at a later time, I shall list the reasons why. But now, it is late (or early as the case may be) and I am quite sleepy.
|
|
|
Post by Riff on May 6, 2005 14:37:43 GMT -5
Oh, Riff. That was just so satisfying. Not just Fred and Wes (and I loved the Latin sweet talk), but Angel, doing something selfless for his friends by "retiring" them. You even gave us hope for Angel. He's found his soul again. Spike wrote the "Ballad", didn't he? I loved Lorne and his snarky Magic 8 ball. I want one of those! I worship at your feet. This is what Season 6 should be. And the dedication... *sniffle*Thank you. {{Anne}} It seemed the right thing, especially since I don’t believe in sad endings, for any of us. Obviously the fic is Fresley-centric, but I wanted Fred’s and Wes’s happy ending (and its undermining of the Big Bad) to ripple out and bring happiness to the other characters. Lorne and Gunn were tricky; because although they have some key scenes, they’re really supporting characters. I just tried to suggest that Lorne was back all the way to his cheerful self (a stronger personality, now that it has been tested), and that Gunn possessed the self-confidence that the brain boost initially gave him (but this time coming from himself). Angel simply had to return to the mission. IMO, he did not do that in Season 5. Rediscovering his purpose, and the joy of a simple act of kindness, is his happy ending. Did Spike write A Ballad? I rather think he did, but I’m a great believer that a story belongs to its reader, so that’s really up to you to decide. For me, the events of the fic fully reawaken Spike’s inner romantic (Romantic). His happy ending. It’s obvious how Fred and Wes figure in this, but you might think that Fred can’t really be a major character since she arrives fairly late in the fic. However, I wanted her presence to be there throughout, much as the Count is thematically present all through Dracula even though he hardly appears in the novel. This is why Wes quotes from Dracula in Chapter One (“The dead travel fast.”). It was fun putting in a few Easter Eggs like that. I wanted some resolution, but not really closure. I think some of the arcs have run their course, and now new arcs can begin. The ending does, if I might be so bold as to suggest it, provide a potentially interesting set-up for Season 6. I have some ideas for a sequel, but I need to think more about it. I’m more flattered than I can express that you came along for the ride, Anne. I’m glad I brought you some entertainment. Riff.
|
|
|
Post by Riff on May 6, 2005 14:38:57 GMT -5
Just learned of the tragic news about Patti. I should really look around the rest of the site more often. I apologize if my last few posts came off as rude or insensitive given the weight of the situation. I wasn't aware at the time what was going on and my excitement over the final episode of Happy Endings was overtaking me. Anyway, I was very happy with this chapter and at a later time, I shall list the reasons why. But now, it is late (or early as the case may be) and I am quite sleepy. Please don’t concern yourself. It’s all too easy to post something without realising that it seems a little insensitive in a context one wasn’t aware of. The same thing happened to me. I look forward to reading your comments. Why not stay for a while and a chat over on the main board? Riff.
|
|
|
Post by Lola m on May 22, 2005 20:00:55 GMT -5
Riff – finally read the last chapter!! (I have fallen woefully behind on all fic, once again.) Wonderful ending! Fred and Wes, making that journey back to her parents and childhood home (I’m picturing the journey we saw in Hole in the World in reverse – and happier. And we have Angel getting back to the mission – Love how well you capture not only Wes’ voice, but also his reactions, the “inner” Wes. Great funny bits. Gunn and Angel and the contract signing. “Why, what do you do?” Great “awwwww” moment with Spike and the poem. Great “connect the dots” moment when Wes gives Fred the butterfly – flapping away on one side of the world, eh? Also loved the “connect the dots”-ness of the parallels and links to Saint Winifred. Very fascinating. Makes me wonder how much of this was lurking around in Joss’ brain. I like how we are left with stories still possible. Angel “blessed and cursed with options”. What do Gunn and Spike and he do now? What will Wes and Fred do with the reformed AI (or whatever it ends up being called)? A sequel, perhaps? Hmmmmmmm? Lola Very lovely memorial to Patti as well. Good writing meant something to her.
|
|
|
Post by Squeemonster on May 22, 2005 21:37:33 GMT -5
This last chapter was a very satisfying ending to such a beautiful story, Riff. You have given me pretty much exactly what I would have wanted to see for Wes and Fred if there had been a sixth season of AtS. I loved Angel’s letter, especially those last few lines. I think what I love most about this ending (aside from the togetherness of Wes and Fred), is that Angel and the others are finally allowed to hope again. Not just to hope for less evil and darkness in the world, but to hope for the possibility of happiness. I think you did a very wonderful and moving job of letting the reunion of Fred and Wes prove to the others that one must never stop hoping and fighting for their own peace and happiness in this world. Thank you so much for sharing this story with us, Riff. I enjoyed every bit of it! (And I would not be averse to a sequel if you chose to write one! )
|
|
|
Post by Riff on May 25, 2005 13:48:50 GMT -5
Riff – finally read the last chapter!! (I have fallen woefully behind on all fic, once again.) Wonderful ending! Fred and Wes, making that journey back to her parents and childhood home (I’m picturing the journey we saw in Hole in the World in reverse – and happier. And we have Angel getting back to the mission – It seemed to me that Fred’s journey had to be reversed. It felt like something thematically unfinished from AHITW/ Shells. Also, it was very fitting, I thought, that she bought Wes with her. In some ways Wes has always been an orphan, but perhaps that can change and he too will find a place called home. In Fredless, he says of Roger and Trish Burkle, “They loved her. - Supported her. - Didn't grind her down into a - tiny self-conscious nub with their constant berating. Their never ending tirade of debasement, and scorn and...” Fred can be seen as a redeeming force for Wesley, IMO, and it felt right that she should have the role of sharing home and family with him. More about St Winifred later. As for Angel, he had to get back on the mission. I have a feeling that the attempt to take out the Circle of the Blackthorn wasn’t what Cordy had in mind. Hmmm. There may be fanfic possibilities there… ;D Thank you, Lola! For all the characters, in both dialogue and the free indirect discourse used for the viewpoint prose, I tried my best to keep out of the way and just let them speak and do their own things. *laughs* The last thing any of them need is to have someone else pulling their strings! ;D I like the blood pen scene because it makes me laugh, and also because there’s a suggestion of “blood brothers” there, some sort of resolution to a joint Angel and Gunn arc. What can I say? I needed a Fresley in the story, and Spike is it! Seriously, I wanted there to be happy endings for all to some extent, and for these to radiate out from Fred’s and Wes’s happy ending. Spike is perhaps the most overt example of this, the events of the fic restoring a mostly dormant part of him. That was the idea, anyway. You are, of course, entirely right in what you say about our lovely Pylean butterfly. The St Winifred story is something I came across while researching for the fic and several things immediately jumped out at me. My automatic reaction is to say that these are coincidences, but there is so little genuine coincidence in the Jossverse that I have to wonder too… I think I can now say there will be a sequel; I do have some ideas, scenes, and dialogue starting to form. But I’m not quite ready, and I’m also an abysmally slow writer. ;D I miss her, but never as one lost. Thank you so much for your comments, Lola. I’m delighted and honoured that you enjoyed my efforts. Riff.
|
|
|
Post by Riff on May 25, 2005 13:51:38 GMT -5
This last chapter was a very satisfying ending to such a beautiful story, Riff. You have given me pretty much exactly what I would have wanted to see for Wes and Fred if there had been a sixth season of AtS. I’m pleased you feel that way, Monnie. I suppose it goes without saying that I also wanted something like this for Fred and Wes. Who knows? It might still happen. I felt that AtS slipped into some overly dark moral territory toward the end. From AHITW onward the show became almost nihilistic (even while it voiced the insistence that one must keep fighting). We must fight because we must fight isn’t good enough for me. It smacks of pretending there is a purpose in what is actually a purposeless existence. Helping the helpless, the small act of kindness, this is what Angel must regain, IMO. *smiles* Thank you! You hit the nail on the head, there. The idea was for Fred and Wes’s reunion to wake up that sense of moral hope in the rest of the FG, something they have needed since Season Four (or even, arguably, since mid-Season Three). Isn’t happiness the enemy of Evil? I’ll do it, honestly. But, just to put this in perspective, Happy Endings took me about eight months to write… Thank you for commenting, and thank you for enjoying the fic!
|
|
|
Post by iadorespike on Jul 8, 2005 2:54:12 GMT -5
Lovely. Of course, I was lucky enough to be able to swallow it whole (hate to wait!). This may be the only advantage to being so new to fan fiction. Thanks so much for saving Fred and Wesley - it was really beautiful. Somebody should get to be happy.
Anna
|
|
|
Post by Riff on Jul 8, 2005 11:55:48 GMT -5
Lovely. Of course, I was lucky enough to be able to swallow it whole (hate to wait!). This may be the only advantage to being so new to fan fiction. Thanks so much for saving Fred and Wesley - it was really beautiful. Somebody should get to be happy. Anna I'm happy you enjoyed it, Anna. One advantage of fanfic is that we get to take matters into our own hands. Thank you!
|
|