From: owner-buffyfic@lists.xmission.com (buffyfic-digest) To: buffyfic-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: buffyfic-digest V2 #351 Reply-To: $SENDER Sender: owner-buffyfic@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-buffyfic@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk buffyfic-digest Wednesday, October 14 1998 Volume 02 : Number 351 In this issue: BUFFYFIC: ADMIN: List rules BUFFYFIC: DISCUSS: "The Necromancer" BUFFYFIC: Full Disclosure (1a/3) by tj thwaites See the end of the digest for information on (un)subscribing to the buffyfic or buffyfic-digest mailing lists and on how to retrieve back issues. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1998 13:09:12 From: sah Subject: BUFFYFIC: ADMIN: List rules Welcome! This list is for fiction related to "Buffy The Vampire Slayer," both the TV series and the movie. To ensure that we all get to enjoy as much fiction as possible, please adhere to the following guidelines, and please save them for future reference. 1. Fiction should have Buffy characters in it and clearly be related to Buffy. Crossovers are great, and expected, but general vampire/monster stories that aren't in the Buffy universe and don't use Buffy characters belong somewhere else. 2. Discussion of posted fiction is permitted onlist. Please put "DISCUSS" in your subject line. Requests for missing story parts should go directly to the author, and not be posted to the list. Discussion that is not related directly to the fiction should go over to the general Buffy list. Discussion of fiction is expected to follow common netiquette guidelines and use PG-13 language. 3. No advertising of items or services, Buffy related or not, and no posting of non-story items such as .gifs, sound files, etc.. No attached files of kind-- if your mailer makes your fiction into attached files, you need to find another way to get it to the list. 4. If you're writing a story and including advance information on a new episode, and you're posting your story earlier than the national viewing time, please: **Mark the post as a "spoiler" in the subject header. **Leave about twelve lines (blank or with non-spoiler info) at the top of the post. This ensures that anyone who doesn't like knowing about an episode ahead of time is "protected." :) The blank space is for people whose mailers automatically open up the next piece of mail, without giving them a chance to see "spoiler" in the header. Spoiler warnings are not necessary after the start of the episode's national viewing time, which is currently set at 9 p.m. Mondays, Eastern Standard Time. Spoiler warnings are not necessary for reruns. 5. This list is absolutely NOT for erotic fiction. stronger than sexually PG-13 material is to be posted to the list under any circumstances. A story may be R rated for violence or language, however. If you have a question about something's suitability for posting, feel free to ask one of the listowners. Sending sexually explicit material will get you immediately and permanently unsubscribed. No exceptions. 6. By subscribing and/or posting to this list, you acknowledge that Buffy the Vampire slayer and all characters associated with either the televised series or the motion picture were created by Josh Whedon and are owned by Mutant Enemy productions, Kuzui Productions, Sandollar Productions, and 20th Century Fox. All stories posted to this list are for entertainment purposes only, are not sold for profit of any kind, and are not intended to infringe on any copyrights. 7. When posting stories to the list, please follow the following formatting guidelines - --No story parts longer than 250 lines - --No more than three story parts per day (posting your 25 part opus will spam people's mailboxes). Better to make people savor the anticipation. - --No lines longer than 75 characters - --Turn off your "smart quotes"-- many readers receive these as garbage or weird symbols - --Put the title of the story in the subject header, indicate if it's a multipart story, and if so what part this is. Example: Buffy Meets Godzilla (2/65) indicates that this post is part two of a 65 part story. 8. If a story is rated "R" for language/violence, indicate this in an introduction. For example, "There's a really bloody fight scene at the end of this part" or "if you don't like dismemberment, stop reading now!" If there's chance that someone might be disturbed by something in your story (even if it's not rated R) please include some kind of warning up front. 9. And last, but not least, the listowners reserve the right to deny subscription (new, renewed, or continued) to the list for any individual(s). PLEASE NOTE: not following any or all of these rules will get you the following: **First offense: offender is unsubscribed for one week. **Second offense: offender is unsubscribed to the Buffyfic list for a minimum of three months. **If the offender returns and does it again, they're offlist permanently. As noted above, posting sexually explicit material is the exception -- you go straight to permanent unsubbing. Again, welcome! If you have any questions about these rules, please contact either one of us offlist. If you have subscription problems or questions, the fastest way to get help is to e-mail one of us at the addresses below, at the kirby@xmission.com addy which is the "official" e-mail owner of the list. Jill Kirby (jtkirby@mcs.com) & sah (romana@mindspring.com) Listowners, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Fiction List buffyfic@xmission.com romana@mindspring.com * romana@aol.com NatPack * BotCoS * Bishop * Jungle Patrol * BBPG:TGLIL * BTVS Colistowner "Mr. Grim Reaper, could you turn around?" --overheard at FrightFest ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1998 21:35:10 -0700 From: "J. Jericho Born" Subject: BUFFYFIC: DISCUSS: "The Necromancer" I'm not trying to set a record or anything and I don't think I'm violating any rules, but I have another discussion message to send. I have a hard time coming up with teasers, those little one or two sentences that describe your story without giving too much away. Some suggestions of teasers for my fanfic, "The Necromancer," would help me along. Thanks. - -JB ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1998 19:01:43 -0600 From: tthwaite@banff.net (tj thwaites) Subject: BUFFYFIC: Full Disclosure (1a/3) by tj thwaites Author's Note: The original version of this story was posted to BBETA way back in January. I've expanded it enough that I needed to break it into 3 parts and not 2 so I could mail it. Actually, most of part 3 is completely new. Great big "thank you" to all who sent feedback on the old version. And believe it of not, I actually took some of your advice. {grin} Title: Full Disclosure (1/3) Author: tj thwaites E-mail: tthwaite@banff.net Archive: Anya's of course. The mailing list archives, okay. All others please ask. I'll give you the go ahead, but I just like to know where my stories are going. Rating: PG-13, some violence but no worse than an episode. Spoilers: up to Bad Eggs Summary: In the aftermath of the incident with the Bazoar, Joyce is having nightmares. And things are about to get worse. Disclaimer: The characters we all know and love from BtVS belong to the Great God Joss. I'm just playing in his back yard for a bit. Also, you'll probably recognize the stuff from various episodes in the flashback scenes. (muchos gracias to AleXander for his wonderful work on the Transcripts available on the Slayerfanfic Archive) Feedback: Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated at tthwaite@banff.net. I'll even read flames, but don't expect a reply to combustable messages. Now, on with the show--- Full Disclosure by tj thwaites (aka tj the dyslexic ferret) Summers residence- 3 am Buffy was half-way down the hall to her mother's room before she woke completely. She pushed open the door and hurried inside, hoping she wouldn't find what she knew she would. Her mother crouched in the corner, a trail of blankets leading back to the bed. [This is the fifth night in a row,] Buffy thought, worried. "Get it off me! Get it off me!" Joyce cried, still in the grip of her nightmare. Buffy rushed to her mother's side, reaching out to stop the hands that were scratching frantically at the top of Joyce's spine. Buffy grabbed her mother's hands and stared into her wide, terror-filled eyes. "Mom!" Buffy called, "Mom! Wake up! You're having a nightmare. Mom, wake up. You're safe. It's just a dream. I'm here, Mom. I'm here." Some of the terror and hysteria retreated from Joyce's expression. Buffy hugged her tightly, rocking her gently and continued whispering soothing platitudes in an ironic role reversal. Buffy could feel the tension slowly leaving her mother's body under her ministrations. She continued slowly rubbing small circles on her mother's back, easing the tense muscles, and took a quick glance at the spot her mother had been scratching earlier. Buffy was hard pressed to subdue the startled gasp that threatened when she caught sight of the damage revealed by the moonlight shining in through the window. The normally pale smooth skin along Joyce's spine, between her shoulder blades, was an angry red, scraped raw and leaking blood in places. Buffy schooled the shock and worry from her expression with difficulty. The raw area was in the precise location one of those parasites had latched on to Joyce during that incident last week at the school. Her Mom couldn't be remembering what really happened that night, could she? [Note to self,] Buffy thought, [Pin down Giles first thing in the morning to talk about this. That 'gas leak' cover story he thought of might have worked in the heat of the moment, but if the people affected are starting to remember details, even if it's only in nightmares, we might have to rethink this whole thing again.] "Are you okay, Mom?" Buffy asked as Joyce's breathing and heart rate finally settled back to something approaching normal, "Do you want to talk about it?" "I'm fine, honey," Joyce replied, "It was just a bad dream. I don't even remember what it was about now. I'm sorry I woke you." "It's okay, Mom. Don't worry about it," Buffy said, "Are you sure you don't want to talk about it? I could make us some tea." "I'm fine, Buffy. Really," Joyce insisted, "I can't remember what it was about. Just feeling afraid. Helpless. It was just a dream. It's over." Joyce shivered at the vague memories and impressions. She scrubbed her hands over her face, then rubbed one hand over the back over her neck to smooth away the last vestiges of nightmare induced tension. She winced slightly as her fingers brushed the raw area over her spine, now suddenly aware of a dull throbbing there. She jerked her hand away from the sore spot and stared at the smear of blood across her fingers. "What....?" Joyce murmured. "You were scratching yourself in your sleep," Buffy ventured, "I think you broke the skin a couple of times. Come on, Mom. I'll help you clean that up." Joyce numbly stood and followed her daughter into the bathroom. She kept staring at the blood on her fingers. What could she have been dreaming about that would make her scratch herself hard enough to draw blood? Joyce could not remember any details of the nightmare, only a few vague impressions; a feeling of helplessness, of not being in control of her own body. She shivered again and quickly banished that line of thought. Joyce leaned over the sink, consciously avoiding looking in the mirror, as Buffy opened the medicine cabinet to retrieve the few first aid supplies kept there. She grimaced a few times as Buffy first gently washed the sore area with warm water, then wiped it down with rubbing alcohol. "How bad is it?" Joyce asked. A person's back was an awkward place to injure oneself, difficult to see and reach in order to treat effectively. "It's not that bad, Mom," Buffy lied. She could count over a dozen individual nail tracks crisscrossing the hand-sized raw blemish. "You just gave yourself a couple of good scrapes," Buffy elaborated, "Maybe you should think about getting your nails done soon?" Joyce raised her head to look in the mirror at the image of her daughter peering over her shoulder. She managed a wan smile at Buffy's attempt to lighten the mood. Joyce sucked in a deep breath through pursed lips at the stinging sensation as Buffy sprayed Polysporin over the scratches. "After all," Buffy continued, grinning impishly, "We wouldn't want you to end up doing some serious damage to some guy's back the next time you date someone." "*Buffy*!!" Joyce practically screeched, shocked at the suggestion. Or rather, its source. Buffy's reflection suddenly went beet red as she locked eyes with her mother. "I can't believe I just said that," Buffy breathed. Mother and daughter stared at each other in the mirror for several minutes, the silence growing increasingly uncomfortable. Finally, Joyce started chuckling softly. "I don't think we have to worry along those lines for a while," she said softly, a wry smile twisting her lips, "After what happened with Ted last month, I don't think I'm going to be doing much....um....trolling? Is that the word I'm looking for?" "*Mom*!" Buffy squealed, her fading blush reasserting itself. Vividly. Buffy's mouth dropped open when her mother suddenly laughed out loud. The mischievous twinkle in Joyce's eyes caused Buffy's mind to conjure images of her mother decked out in something tight and sexy, a drink in hand, and surrounded by admirers. *Too* weird. Joyce stood up straight, putting her arm around her daughter's shoulders, and grinned into the mirror. "Who knows," she quipped, "Maybe one of these years we two could go on a mother/daughter hunting expedition together?" Buffy broke up, gales of laughter erupting. "You are so evil, Mom," she gasped between laughs, "Suggesting we subject an unsuspecting world to such an irresistibly deadly duo as ourselves." Several minutes later, the two women finally managed to control their guffaws. Turning off the bathroom light, Joyce turned to her daughter. "Thank you for cheering me up after that nightmare, Buffy," she said softly, "Now, I think we both should try to get back to sleep." "Okay, Mom," Buffy agreed, "If you're sure you don't want to talk about it?" "I'm sure," Joyce confirmed, "Good night, honey." "Mom?" Buffy asked, "Will this little rapprochement contribute to lifting my house arrest?" "Buffy," Joyce said, "I'll sleep on it. We'll talk about over breakfast, okay?" "Good night, Mom," Buffy replied, "A joint hunting expedition, hunh?" "Who knows," Joyce returned, shrugging, before disappearing into her bedroom. Buffy climbed back into bed, playing over the exchange in the bathroom in her mind. As she lay back against the pillows, Buffy realized that her own comments stemmed from the acceptance (finally, after over a year) that her mother and father were not going to be getting back together. And that Buffy herself hoped that her mother would eventually find someone else to share the rest of her life with. Someone to make her happy. ===== Sunnydale High Library- Lunchtime Buffy sat at the library's center table, idly playing with a pencil instead of actually working on the trig homework she'd been assigned in class that morning. Willow sat in her customary position in front of what was considered "her" computer (no one else ever used it, especially not Giles or the other Slayerettes), researching a biology project for extra credit. Xander was nowhere to be found; he'd pulled another one of his disappearing acts that had gotten more frequent over the past month. Buffy was uncharacteristically reluctant to broach the subject of her mother's nightmares to Giles. Last night's determination had faded with the brightening of the morning. Her mother still claimed she didn't remember any details of the nightmares when Buffy had asked over breakfast. So she was left with something of a dilemma. She didn't *know* what her mother's nightmares had involved, and Joyce's offhand reference to Ted last night had caught Buffy off guard. Now she was wondering if the nightmares could possibly be about Ted and not that night last week with the Bazoar and its hatchlings. It had been bothering her all morning. [No, it has to be,] she thought, [The way she was scratching at her neck is too big a coincidence.] "Giles?" she asked, "Can I talk to you for a minute?" "Yes?" Giles replied, coming out of his office. Willow looked up from the computer, took one look at the worried expression on her friend's face and closed down her project. "Something wrong, Buffy?" Giles asked as he approached the table. "I'm not sure," Buffy answered, "I know Xander and I explained all that happened with that Bazoar thing, but do either of you actually remember anything yourselves? Have you had any nightmares?" Willow remained silent, looking uncomfortable. "No," Giles said, "I don't remember any details. Nor have I experienced any nocturnal episodes regarding the incident. Are you having trouble, Buffy?" "Not me," Buffy responded, "I can deal with nightmares, I have enough of them. It's my Mom. I think she's been dreaming about that night. She's woken up screaming every night for almost a week. She says she doesn't remember what the dreams are about, but last night...." Buffy's died away, her expression morose, her gaze dropping to her lap. Giles sat down next to her, concerned. "She remembered something?" he prodded gently after the silence had dragged on for nearly a minute. "No, but...," Buffy raised a very worried face, her eyes brimming, "She was scratching.... um, actually, she was *clawing* at the top of her spine. Where that hatchling had latched on to her. You should have seen it, Giles. She must have broken the skin a dozen times. There was an area as big as both my hands just....just....*raw*. All red and bleeding. It scared me, Giles." "I...," Willow chopped herself off. Giles looked away from Buffy. He was startled, and worried, by the tension in Willow's shoulders and the pallor of her face. "I had a nightmare that night," Willow confessed, "But I haven't had one since." "Willow," Giles asked gently, "What do you remember?" "Not much, really," Willow's voice was barely above a whisper, "Just a few bits and pieces. Locking Buffy and Xander in a closet, going down to the basement, digging. And....and....did I really tell someone to kill you, Buffy?" end part 1a - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Noel:"Disappointment doesn't kill." Abby:"Right. Rejection kills. Disappointment only maims." -- "The Truth About Cats and Dogs" An optimist sees the glass half full A pessimist sees the glass half empty And a realist understands that soon he's going to have to wash the glass In a world of shit you hold your nose and swim. Don't worry about the bullet with your name on it, worry about the one addressed "to whom it may concern". @-}-}-- tj thwaites @-}-}-- @-}-}-- tthwaite@banff.net @-}-}-- @-}-}-- Box 2890, Banff, AB, T0L 0C0 @-}-}-- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ End of buffyfic-digest V2 #351 ****************************** To subscribe to buffyfic or buffyfic-digest, send the command subscribe buffyfic-digest or subscribe buffy to majordomo@xmission.com. You will need to go through a confirmation process, and the listowners have to manually approve your subscription request, so it may take some time. To unsubscribe, send email to majordomo@xmission.com with unsubscribe buffyfic-digest or unsubscribe buffyfic in the body. Back issues of this digest can be found at: ftp://ftp.xmission.com/pub/lists/buffyfic/archive/ Dalton Spence has also provided an index of the buffyfic archive at: http://www.hwcn.org/~ag775/BUFFYFIC.HTM For help, contact Jill Kirby (jtkirby@mcs.com) or sah (romana@mindspring.com)