Once upon a time...

Title:A Christmas Tale.
Author: fenderlove
Rating: PG.
Notes: The following is set in one of the AUs created by Brian Lynch in the ID Angel comics in which Angel managed to rescue Connor from being kidnapped by Holtz but pushed his friends away in the process and his continuing paranoia. Angel turned to Spike as the only person left who he trusts to care for toddler Connor in his absence.
Summary It's Christmas, and it looks like Santa's running a bit late.

( Read More... )

x-posted for my posting day at rekindlespangel.

I've been hanging around Tumblr a lot lately, and an artist that I've been following on there asked for some requests, so I put in a good word for Spike (of course) with a note that, if the person was not a BtVS/Ats fan, that Gambit might be a good choice as well. This was the result--



Made by the incredible OYONOK!

*SQUEE* Spike's so annoyed about Gambit being so tall. XD

I'm giving myself fifteen minutes before I teach my next class to write a fic. And go!

Title: The Hills of Concrete Lies.
Author: fenderlove
Rating: PG/Worksafe.
Summary: Spike and Angel are on a quest.

( Onwards to the fic! )

Hi, all. I thought I would share something that I've been working on for a while-- my Buffyverse fanon timeline. These are basically dates that I use when I'm writing most of my fanfics to keep up with backstory and such. It's quite insane extensive, I think. I'm still working on formatting it, spellchecking it, and making sure that I've got everything accounted for (this has been copied and pasted from like four different Word documents).

What's included: Canon material from both shows, quasi-canon material (from the Tales of the Slayers and Tales of the Vampires comics), random material from various sources like other comics and novels that I enjoyed, and my own fanon creations from my fanfics (and also from writing fanfic with kidcyclone. Believe it or not, I've kept things pretty much the same for Spike's family history since I started writing fanfic back in 2000.

At the moment, this timeline only goes through the end of S3. The details from the show aren't that... well, detailed. I was more interested at those points about getting major events, such as character deaths, and the in-between stuff. Also, be warned that there may be some stuff out of order because I'm still arranging and re-arranging.

To make it easier, for myself and others, I've italicized any fanon stuff. You'll notice that even in some canon entries I've italicized a few things because the details within the canon material were not clear or I felt too much like I was making an assumption.

Enjoy the depths of my madness! :D

( Check this bad boy out! :D )

OH MY GOD! Why do I do this to myself?! I haven't even been reading the comics! I've stayed away like the plague, but I just can't stop my morbid fascination with canon's anti-climactic downfall.

Everyone's got their own flounce issue (maybe not for BtVS, but even for other fandoms). You know what I mean- that one thing that you always said that if the creators/writers did, you'd leave everything behind and move on? Well, S9 is reaching for one of mine. Since I've given up on canon all together, I can't really flounce, but still, the S9 writers are poking at my EPIC FLOUNCE button, which means RANTY-RANT RAGE if they actually go through with it.

Leave. Spike. Alone. I want him away from the main story. Far away. Unliving a fulfilled, happy unlife. Maybe finding someone completely unconnected with Angel and Buffy and his old unlife. Maybe just learning to love himself. Maybe finding some close, good, supportive friends... who he doesn't ever sleep with. You know what? I'm going to pretend that Spike's story ended with Spike: Asylum and Shadow Puppets. He's living in Primm, Nevada with his friends, sometimes traveling protecting the world, and being a contented, adjusted adult.

I'll just stick with my own Alternate Universes and with lilithbint's Second Time Around'verse. I give up!

I thought about making a few Rage Comics for Memebase/ICanHasCheezburger featuring some vampires. I just made 1.5 today. It's silly, but it makes me happy. I've gotta remember my password to Memebase before I can post it... I'm not even sure if this is funny to anyone but me... :D

Preview:



Fandoms: BtVS/Ats, Vampire Chronicles, and True Blood... Plus one that's not my fandom. I can't believe I had to save a picture of it to make this bonus meme. *goes to scrub my hard-drive*

( Click Here for Full-Sized Version Plus Bonus Sequel Meme. )

ETA: Sorry about the pics not showing up. Photobucket is giving me fits.

It's no secret that I hate updating 70s/80s cartoon characters . From Rainbow Brite to Strawberry Shortcake to Care Bears to My Little Ponies, toy companies have been updating their designs like mad in the past decade. I even made a post with image comparisons to express my rage a while back. My Little Ponies have definitely seen some bad days and some badder days. However, their latest incarnation- MLP: Friendship is Magic- is actually adorable. It's obviously made by people who enjoyed the original 80s cartoons and movies. Plus, they have somehow managed to make a toy/TV series that not only appeals to females but to males as well. Believe it or not, Hasbro finally bridged the gender gap with a show... probably completely by accident. MLPs were created to be the "girl" toys to the "boy" toys to the Transformers in the 80s. I played with both, but forever I was reminded that MLPs were only "girl" toys. Now, there are BRONIES (portmanteau of "bro" and "ponies"), male fans of MLP: FIM usually between the ages of 16-32.

The creators of the show are Internet junkies and nerds. An example, in the original MLP show in the 80s, there was a baby dragon named Spike (he was voiced by the same guy who did Buster Bunny and the Crypt Keeper's voices). In the new show, Spike has been included in the cast again... only now he sometimes gets tormented by a male baby bunny named Angel. XD Now, it's unconfirmed if this was done because of vampiric Spike and Angel, but I like to think that it was. :D

Here's a confirmed example. This is Doctor Whooves. That is literally one of his official names. He has spiky David Tennant hair and his "cutie mark" is a timey wimey hourglass.



Here is a fan animation of Dr. Whooves giving a message to Martha about pears.

Another fan animation: Allons-y!

7 – Have you ever had a fic change your opinion of a character?

In one ficlet, Stepping Stones, I didn't so much have to change my opinion of Buffy, but rather I had to make a concentrated effort to make Buffy do something I thought she will never be able to do- admit her faults and seek to take responsibility for her mistakes. In doing so, I had to soften my harsh opinions of her inability to change. However, I view this as making her OOC. I don't believe she can change nor do I believe she will with the way Joss Whedon or any other writers portray her. Instead of changing my opinion, I should say that I left the possibility open that perhaps with a different writer Buffy seeking help for her issues to get herself mentally and emotionally healthy might one day be a possibility.

Similarly, with the chapters in which Buffy appears thus far in Acceptable Losses, I had to "soften" how I portrayed Buffy because I don't believe she's actually capable of empathy nor love at her current state and I had to have her do something that was in a way selfless within the story... Of course, it's only selfless if you interpret her actions to be so, and I did leave that possibility open. On one hand, she's had to give up something that she may not ever get to experience again. On the other hand, did she have ulterior motives besides selfless love and caring in doing so? To be honest, I can't say. That motivation doesn't come into play with the rest of the fic, but I think it lingers as a question. When a "hero" makes a big flowery emotional speech, we tend to take them at their word, but it could be an act, a put-on, or a con just hide selfish reasons why they are doing what they do. Again, I'm not saying that's what Buffy did in Acceptable Losses, but I think it's good policy to question the White Hats every now and then.

And sometimes I need to be reminded that Spike is not a china doll that will be broken into a thousand pieces at the first blush of damage. He has sustained massive hurt-y injuries without shedding a tear or screaming, and sometimes that's difficult for me to remember. I totally blame "Fool for Love" for woobiefying him forever. Come on, all I see in my head is "*shove!* *fall!* *lip wobble!* *sobs!*" Oh the vampmanity! Someone get him a bandaid and a juice box! And then I have to recall the chip and Glory and how it took her trying to scoop out his heart with one finger or him getting nearly crispy-brain-fried to get him to cry out... And then the First... I really don't want to know what the Turok-Han was doing to Spike to make him scream... I have nightmares...

Also, Angel can be goofy as all fuck, and I like that. I think that in writing Acceptable Losses (man, this is making me realize just how much I need to finish posting that fic) that I realized that Angel could be loving. It's one of those things with Spangel where you know that Spike could love Angel, that's just a given, but there's always a lingering doubt of if Angel could truly love Spike or if he can truly love anyone after what he's gone through. I think what really changed him in my view was writing AL, but also some of the lines Brian Lynch wrote at the end of ATF. Angel's true love is his son. Connor is his world; Connor means more to him than anyone else, and no one is going to change that. That's when I realized that Angel is a good man. He gets things so wrong, but he's a good man. If given the chance, Liam would have grown up and been a good man, a good father, a better son. And Spike loves Connor too; they're family, a crazy unnatural dysfunctional family. I LOVE-LOVE-LOVE Brian Lynch's story in the Angel Yearbook because in one of the alternate timelines/dimensions, Angel managed to save Connor from being sucked into Quor'toth, but afterwards became so overprotective that he pushed all his friends away. Somehow, in that timeline, Spike entered the picture, and he was the only person Angel trusted enough to help look after three-year-old Connor. It just really reaffirmed my Spangel love.

I am rambling tonight! Whoo!

( Cut for the answer to Days 1-6 and the other 23 questions for the upcoming days... )

I'm absconding this idea from coalitiongirl who did an awesome character picspam. On my list, I've included a few comic book characters as they are part of my canonical BtVS/Ats experience... and there are five main characters from BtVS conspicuously absent from the list. Most of you don't need but one guess to pick those select few that got left off. Haha! I'm predictable in my nerd!rage. :D Pic/quote banners ahoy! With gradients! :D

( Be prepared for a terrible overuse of gradients. )

Do you find Jossverse vampires ugly? I mean, wasn't that Whedon's point was that vampires were supposed to be hideous, be metaphors for all the evil and sinful things people do? The more evil and ancient a vampire was, the more grotesque they were supposed to become, as though the demon was a consuming disease. However, for all the Balthazars and Princes of Lies and Masters and Kakistoses (... Kakistosi?), there are more pretty vampires who are not only physically attractive in their human features but their vampiric features, to me, are somewhat aesthetically pleasing. It's not just the Fanged Four, but the Gorches weren't too bad looking. Spike and Harmony's vamp-faces are even sort of cute. It might just depend on the facial structure of the person wearing the make-up that determines whether or not their vamp-face is weird or off-putting. What are your thoughts? Is a Jossverse vampire's game-face ugly to you?