Riley! LMFAO That would be a Hoot! Mr. D got some stones finally. lol

Author's Response: Mr. Davis' change is a theme all in itself. People didn't like adult ineptitude as a theme, anyway. Thanks for commentin'. ;)

You scared me *lol* with the Riley part...

Author's Response: Riley is a bad guy too. Maybe less so than Spike, but he is...

I'm dying here! I keep checking and hopeing and praying that you will update soon! is it Faith? is is Cordelia? is it Angel? the teacher? please, please, please update! So far, this story is sooooo good. Anything you write will be pure genius I'm sure!

Author's Response: LMAO... Angel, hahahahahaha. I wouldn't delve into preference for main characters, at least not yet. ^_^ And thanks so much for compliments! :)

Ahh! Damn cliffhangers! Very well done. Amazing story. Please update soon.... pretty please? *pouts*

Author's Response: Thank you! And I've seemed to hit a bit of a block as far as writing goes, so I honestly dunno when the next update will be. Sorry. :(

1. I'm interested to confirm who that naughty person is.

2. I like Spike less and less as the story progresses, b/c instead of getting better he seems to be getting worse. He started out cynical and sarcastic and hurt...but it's gotten worse than that. Reading it is kind of...hopeless? I dunno, i like my stories to have happy endings. Angst is all well and good, but I want my fairytales to be better than real life.

3. I think the UFB is the perfect catalyst for a change in Spike. Obviously, Buffy will be angry...and her anger and dismiss of Spike could help him...see things a little more clearly . Maybe see a bit of grey.

Author's Response: Yeah... Spike's definitely gotten worse. I dunno, I guess a part of me was writing tragic when I should have been writing with the happy Spuffy ending in mind. Thanks for 3; I was hoping it might be a good enough catalyst. That's not gonna be the *only* thing that makes Buffy angry, though; other stuff will surface. I don't want to give it away, though. :) Thanks for commenting.

What a cliffhanger!! Can't wait to see what happens next! Buffy'll sure be pissed!

Author's Response: Thanks; and yes, she most certainly will. :)

I've been a horrible reviewer I know, but, well, I won't bore you with excuses. Just know that I still love the story, mm'kay?

This is gonna be short (honest this time) cause I'm drop dead tired and late for work. See? That's gotta show a level of dedication, I'm late for work and I still read this chapter! Go me. =)

And hey! When I was 8, The Boxcar Children rocked. Seriously! I mean, who doesn't love orphans living out of a boxcar solving mysteries. They're like, do-gooder over-achievers with no parental guidance. Woot!

As for Spike... sure, he's completely the Byronic hero at the moment. But, I think you're right. Spike needs to lighten up with the self-destructive kick and mellow out just a tad. I mean, Lord Byron was a romantic, yeah? So why can't Spike be, even just a little? Besides, we don't want Spike to fully self-destruct, that'd be sad.

And holy crap and I can't write a short review on your story. I blame you. Well, I'm not sure if I made any sense whatsoever in this review, so that makes me a feel a little better. Kinda. I'm not even gonna re-read it to check and see if I have any silly typos or anything. Nope. Not gonna.

Author's Response:

Good update, you have me on the edge of my seat for the next!

As far as 'tweaking' Spike....tweak all ya like. I know *I* would!!!! :P

Author's Response: ^_^ Yes, at the time I did not fully realize the sexual connotation of using the word "tweak" and Spike in the same sentence. Thanks for reviewing! :D

oh no, this cant be any kind of good..

Author's Response: Indeed, my dear Blax, indeed! :D

Hhhhmmmm....Byronic? I can't say the good Lord who shocked many is who comes to mind when I read this Spike. Mostly because Byron's earliests loves (and many thereafter) were homosexual in nature, and he was a member of the aristocracy, which was what allowed him the freedom and means to live as he did.
Also Byron is considered the father of romanticism, which was very much associated with pacifism and dandyism (despite Byron's illustrious military career). He would probably not have been so abusive to a girl he loved even if she scorned him (as many contend Byron himself suffered sexual molestation at the hand of a nanny)...like Ovid he would have mooned about and wrote about it.
I clearly think that Spike is quite self destructive right now, and if I may say so....petty. We've all endured humilation from our peers, at some point the response has to be "Yes? And so? Cry me a river". Perhaps the literary archtype you are looking for would be Bronte's Heathcliff? While other girls mooned over his passion, I thought Heathcliff, violent, possesive, abusive and suffering from chip-on-shoulder-syndrome....Cathy was no better, but I've always disliked people who are overly dramatic and codependent. And they were certainly a self-destructive pair.
As to whether or not you need to be more graphic about how awful Buffy was.....we all must learn to walk tall and right....for every 1 person and recycles their abusive experience there are 10 more that grow up get a job and raise 2 kids properly. I think Spike, if we're speaking of Mr. Whedon's versionwould've eventually (albeit supernaturally) tended towards the second scenario not the first, or at very least learned to walk right.

Author's Response: You're just a walking encyclopedia of information, you know that? ;) Somehow I knew you'd be the one who talked about Byronic characters, probably one of the few people who knows about the topic comprehensively, and I'm very glad you did. And while, yes, Spike does not display very similar characteristics to Lord Byron, I was referring to the Byronic category as a whole. While this may include Lord Byron himself, when I say "Byronic Hero" I also mean Heathcliff and Rochester and probably the entire anti-hero category that it spawned. That might just be a lack of proper education on my part, considering I have yet to learn about Byronic characters at school and rely on my own gatherings in this instance. Note also that, when I say Spike is a Byronic character, I'm also warping the traits of a Byronic character a little bit to fit a high school teenager. Maybe I should have used anti-hero, but anti-hero sometimes implies someone with heroic goals, and Spike does not have any heroic goals at the moment, besides perhaps his elusive way of helping Buffy every now and then. Clearly, though, Spike is a social outcast, he loathes authority and rank of any kind, he has conflicting emotions (with Buffy particularly), a troubled past, he's arrogant, cynical, self-destructive, and he struggles to be a man of worth. The wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byronic_hero) defines a Byronic hero almost identically to that, but wikipedia might not be the most reliable source for such information. Oh, and I found a really interesting article (I think it's a college class outline?) on the Byronic hero that rightly references Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel! (http://www.rc.umd.edu/praxis/contemporary/stein/stein.html) Just one of the many ways the show amazes me and most likely will for several years to come as I discover all of its themes and characters fully. :) And I'm a bit unclear as to your last paragraph; I assume you support the idea of Spike changing, as you want him to "walk right?" Thank you very much for replying to my plea and story, it's much appreciated! =]

can't wait to see what happens next!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D



Author's Response: Thank you. :)

Wow...I don't know what to say bout that. I never expected that. What's gonna happen now? Who was that?

I don't like this Spike much. He's pretty much worse than the populars now. He's insulting daily and he pretty much treats Buffy like garbage and a slut. Not a favorite of mine at the moment. For someone who was treated horribly, why would he treat other people just as bad if not worse?

Update soon please! I can't wait to see what happens next chapter!

Author's Response: You'll just have to stay tuned to your monitor to find out. :D I agree wholeheartedly with what you said about Spike; I think recently I've purposely tried to make him much worse than the people he loathes, possibly to make the epiphany and wake up call all the more shocking to him. I assume you support a major change in Spike, then? Thanks for reviewing; and the next chapter's rough draft is actually almost finished, so you might not have to wait that long. :)