Joyce is awesome!

Go Buffy! I'm glad she's helping as mucha s she can! I was worried she wouldn't think of doing that! I hope Spike gets well soon and their relationship gets MUCH better!
Great chapter! Update soon please!!!!!

Ohhhh!

You know, I'm almost afraid to say something because I'm sure that someone will accuse me of being a troll or having multiple sockpuppets. You have a talent for descriptive writing, no question, and I enjoy reading your stories. But I'm having a very hard time with the characterization.

There's a lack of balance that's giving me trouble here. Joyce, Dawn, Spike and Anya are all perfect: loving and caring, yet still (in the case of Spike and Anya) abused by the people they love. Xander and (to a slightly lesser extent) Giles and Willow are the villains: bigoted, uncaring and cavalier in their attitudes towards the woobie Spike. These are Buffy's friends. She loves them. There's no need to tear down the other characters to make Spike (and Anya) into saints in comparison.

And then there's Buffy. I'm glad that you've finally separated the real Buffy from the force that's controlling her, and I hope that no one lays any guilt on her for something that she can't control.

Also, I think that writing Spike as an abused innocent lessens him as a character, frankly. He's not an innocent. He's not some trembling, weepy sap who loves everyone and just wants to be liked. He's a demon who, at this point in the show, still violently hated all of the Scoobies (including Buffy) and would have no problems at all with killing them off, if he could.

I'm enjoying your stories. I plan on reading them in the future. I just think that your writing could be strengthened by a little more balance towards the characters. None of them are perfect, Spike included.

Share the blood.. share the demon???

Hey JL,

I've been an avid reader of your stories for a long while, just never stepped out of lurking to comment.

I really like your stories, Spike angst and all. Actually, I really enjoy the Spike angst you write, because Spike in pain is very raw and very emotionally stimulating to read. I also like that you mainly write submissive Spike when it comes to Spuffy, because, well, that does happen to be my favorite type of Spuffy to read. I tend to emotionally identify with the sub of the pairing in fanfiction and I don't really identify with the character of Buffy in BtvS at all.

You create great plots that people can (and do) sign on to read nearly each day. But, true to the show, the effect that the "big bad" has on the relationships between the characters is at the primary front.

Your way of writing is very easy and enjoyable to read. It accentuates the dialogue and inner thoughts with just enough descriptive detail to allow me to imagine the scene. Oftentimes when people write fanfiction I have to go back over a paragraph to make sure I got what was going on -- not so with your writing. And on the rare occasions that may happen, it's likely I'm too engrossed in the story to stop moving forward, anyhow.

And let's not even get into my admiration of your consistency with daily updates. (And I do confess to the very human selfishness that comes along with finding that I've reached the end of an update and will have to wait a whole day to read more.) I can't even imagine the amount of dedication you must have to these stories and these characters, but it must really be phenomenal. I highly respect you for that.

When I read some of the reviews given below, I had to laugh. It looks like one person decided to use different names to mask that it was really only one person, because all of the comments basically say the same thing. And for that to happen so suddenly at this point in the story, with no previous reviews by any of those usernames on any of the other chapters...they're not really fooling anyone in their attempts to sway your writing.

It doesn't need any swaying, because anything other than what you have in mind just wouldn't be a JL story. :)

Can't promise I'll be popping my head up to review again, but I will continue reading your stories.


Author's Response: thank you so much for your kind words...i kind of needed that.... i realize that my writing's not for everyone....i *do* write pretty much all sub-Spike, really...and not everyone has to like it... I'm glad you do, though :) Actually, i think he pretty much was in any relationship he was in...he put up with so much for any woman he loved...i agree with your opinion on those reviews, but it's not gonna change what i write...if someone doesn't like it, they don't have to read it...period :) Thanks again for your supportive and considerate words :)

Wow! Great update. Sure hope they figure out something soon before Spike really does dust at Buffy'-Bitch's hands. So, who's gonna volunteer to be a blood donor for the hapless vamp? More please.

Poor Spike, he's gonna need LOTS of blood. Slayer's blood is best right? Hope she snaps out of it enough to give him some of hers.
Update soon please! I can't wait to see Spike healthy again and Buffy in control of her body COMPLETELY!!

Soo... ok I thought this was a spuffy site.
This story is basically about a punching bag (Spike)
and the Bitch who punches it(Buffy).
Now don't get me wrong I like ur story very much, it's just I'm getting frustrated with the way Buffy is treating Spike.

P.S can u do me a favor and KILL xander in like the next chapter or something cuz he stay bitchin like a little girl always up buffys ass and on spikes case hes nothing anyway he helps with nothing
anya: X'demon who knows thing
willow: witch
tara: witch
giles: watcher
and yea you kno the rest but xander
xander: good 4 nuthin glob of shit

so yea let spike eat him

I've wa sreading this story and I really liked it alot but I really don't understand where this is going.
I mean it seems like every chapter I read Spike is being tortured.
I understand that in the beginning and middle of the story u had to show this but it's chapter 48 and things are pretty much the same.
I really liked how u started out but now I'm beginning to question my interest in this story.
I hope things get better.

Wow! Soooooo good!!

So glad Dawn brought Buffy back......