good point you are a great writer addie it is hard to be able to put chariters into true time frames. and you are cruel with the cliffhanger at the end. lol just kidding looking farward to the next.

I have to say I love this story and I love how this is turning out. And even if I didn't, I still respect you as an author and trust that you will deliver a tale worth all the angst...because what is a good tale without angst.

Anyone that gives you shit for your decisions is pure bs. You write what you want to write, and let them figure out their own issues. You got one fan rite here.

As for the story, I love how you write Spike. You don't sacrifice his character to build Buffy and I love you for that. This chapter is another stepping stone to their reconsiliation that will result in them having a more fulfilling relationship then they had before.

Great chapter.

I'm glad that Buffy let Robin down asap and nicely. (no chance of the good guy getting too hurt ... very considerate)

The phone conversations and revelations are getting better. Yes Buffy, it's the LITTLE things that count and keep a relationship thriving (too bad she had to learn this the hard way) Gotta say, I really love this Spike of yours Addie (I actually love every Spike that you create)

OK ... Eve is at the front door ... for the next chapter could you make Buffy a Slayer and could she just stake Eve???? (we all know what a vampiress Eve is) ( Joking but seriously ... ) I cannot even begin to predict what you are going to do with that scenerio! Can't wait ... but I will.

great to see a new chapter, thanks! as always, i enjoyed it. angst is one of my kinks, so i love it ~ can't wait for more!

It was nice of you to give your explanation, but for me....not necessary. They have issues, many, but for me that makes the story interesting, makes me always come back for more. It kind of is knowing that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, that glimmer of hope, you know the " crumb", as Spike has always asked for, that makes me see that anything can change. As bad as it gets, somehow their love will win out. Anyway, great chapter and thanks

You know, it's always a bad sign when a woman shows up at the ex-'s house!!!

Anyway, I hope Buffy sees through Eve.

When a woman shows up, it's usually out of desperation, sad to say and I hope Buffy gets that.

Spike should break it off clean with Eve before things get worse. I've been the recipient of the old brush off and it hurts like hell but we do get through it. Eve can too and she needs to move on herself.

Okay, that being said, I hope Spuffy happens soon.

spuf

Totally with you, here.

You finally had Buffy admit that her "good idea" was really just a lie. She got fed up with things not being easy for her, and she ran.
And yeah, asking about those simple, little things makes a HUGE difference to most guys, even though they're usually too macho to tell you until you force them to. My boyfriend is tons happier just because I stop what I'm doing when he gets home and listen to him for 20 minutes or so. It helps him decompress from the office, then he goes and does his thing and I go back to my stuff.

Eve! Someone must be feeling really threatened! This is not going to go well.

I'm glad she finally did the right thing where Robin is concerned, and I was also glad to see Spike get those issues out. This is therapy, even if they never do get back together. They can't possibly make another relationship work in the future if they don't understand what went horribly wrong in the past. Buffy never examined it that hard, but since Spike has already been in therapy to get his life back together, I bet a lot of this came up with his psychologist.

I'd love for her to tell Dawn the truth finally, too.

Well, you really left me hanging there. I can't wait to see what Eve has to say.
I happen to like the pace you are keeping with this story. And if others don't, well, they don't have to read it.
Keep true to YOUR story. There are alot of us out there that are enjoying it very much.

Sorry that should say through to ch32

I just had to add that I hope that Spike heads over to Buffy's place.

WOW i have never before read reviews that other readers write and i also do not read author notes (guess i should start) --- i always go straight to the updated chapter, read it and then, time willing, i leave a review.

since a review that i left for this last chapter seems to have caused such a crazy domino effect of misunderstandings, i thought that i might try to clarify a few things just for the benefit of Addie (if nothing else)

after the first review that i left i was really baffled as to the response ---- it seemed so defensive and very aggressive (but also contained good advice which i planned upon taking since i do love this story ... "wait for awhile and read more chapters later on") in retrospect i should have dropped it there realizing that my review must have been misunderstood. i regretfully did not in fact drop it and i wrote a defensive response (of course that was not well received) i then decided that there must be much more to this inflamed situation and SO i then took the time to go way back and actually read other reader's reviews as well as the old author notes just to see what the heck was going on. i honestly had no idea there was such drama and nastiness going on --- the nastiness and personal attacks were/are a little shocking !!

i am an artist (have been for the past 20+ years) i have endured praise as well as criticism for a long time. i , of course, loved the praise and the criticism naturally hurt. (some helped me to hone my craft but much of it i took personally) for a brief time i actually changed parts of my craft to try to please the dissatisfied potential buyers but then found myself not loving what i was creating. so i quit listening to the individuals who wanted me to change, went back to my true work and hired a pr man (who has since become my savior) this way i didn't have to deal with the crazies. (and he filters the potentially useful constructive criticism to me in a manner that is palatable) so, Addie, if i hurt your feelings with my words, i apologize. i thought it would be taken as someone telling me that the blue in the sky that i was painting was a little off and would look better a slightly different hue (minor)

which brings me to this --- i now understand the defensive response from Addie since for all she
knew i was personally attacking her. i was in no way meaning to attack Addie as an author or person. if my review was taken that way then i again sincerely apologize.

to further my trying to make sense of this misunderstanding, i had my son (who has a very similar sense of humor to mine) (i am actually considered by friends as very funny/witty and compassionate) read my review to see if it did indeed sound as though it was "whining" or aggressive. i was quoting an old austin powers movie in the review and i was intending to flavor my constructive criticism with humor --- now realizing that it did not come across that way. my son correctly pointed out that since voice inflection and facial expressions were lacking in a written review it could have been taken as an aggressive criticism. i really did not mean it aggressively. i really meant to simply say that as far a "balance" in a story, this particular story was REALLY heavy on the angst side as far as i was concerned and that a more emotionally balanced story would be better. But hey, i thought that if i wrote something like that then it is my opinion and (no big deal) that would be taken into consideration. (in the same manner as pointing out that a preponderance of violence in a story might be best tempered with more compassion--- resulting in a more rounded/balanced story)(maybe a bad example but that was the line of thinking)

trust me--- i will never make the mistake again of writing anything other than positive and supportive feedback (or nothing at all) i always write positive feedback and have for all of Addie's stories.

i am not lurking around under any other names in order to criticise or heckle Addie. (what would be the point in that?) i am surprised at the individuals who have come out of the woodwork and completely inflamed a situation with a "mob-like mentality". (fans of Addies included)

bottom line, i like all of Addie's work, and i meant no harm emotionally. i regret that my not so well though out critique was the continuation of a terrible assault on a devoted author.

seriously though, some of you people (on both sided of this issue) need to chill out and consider that what you mean by what you write may not necessarily be interpreted as you truly mean it. (i just learned that lesson)

please accept my apology addie ... wish you could get a pr guy (some day when you are selling your books.....)

also, sorry for misspellings and lack of continuity of thoughts due to the fact that i am writing in a 3x1 box and i cannot find my cheaters(reading glasses)

Author's Response: Thank you for the apology. I'm glad to see it was mainly a misunderstanding and not another person harassing me. I think most of the reviewer responses, too, were less to you and more to "Darla," who took your review as a chance to start her harassment of me up again.

I wasn't trying to be overly snippy in my response either, though if it came across that way, it is because I'm very tired of the angst comments. Personally, I don't find this to be constructive criticism, because I don't think the story being heavy on angst means there's something "wrong" with it. Not all stories are evenly balanced, and that's not always a bad thing. I'm writing a certain kind of story, and I feel that I should be able to do that without being told it's something that should be criticised. Does that make sense?

What I was trying to say in my original response was not meant to be rude or me "not taking criticism," but really just advice--albeit somewhat short due to two months of continued harassment. I know this story isn't for everyone, and as opposed to changing it from the way I want it to be in order to make other people happy (but not myself) I think it's easier for the people who don't like it to simply not read, therefore allowing me creative freedom.

I've never had a problem with criticism. I don't just write on the internet, and believe me, I have sat in a room and had my work ripped to shreds right in front of my face. But not liking the specific genre of a story isn't really constructive--it's based on reader preference. And as far as that goes, well, it's probably better for the reader to make a choice not to read than for the author to be bothered about what he or she has chosen to write.

I understand things being misunderstood on the internet--I think the same thing has happened with several of my responses. Things are taken as harsher than they were meant to be, and it gets out of hand. This review in particular did upset me, though, because the flame war had finally stopped, and then it started up again after this. I'm so tired of all of this. Not because I believe anything the flamers have been saying, but because I want to get back to just enjoying writing--and with so many people coming after me, it makes me not want to post.

I do hope you continue to enjoy the story. It hasn't been as unbalanced as you've suggested, and really, I am working towards a happy ending as quickly as I can without making it unrealistic. It's very frustrating to have people constantly telling me to write my story in a way that would be completely unsatisfactory to me. I think in the end, both my readers and me should be happy, but I have to be allowed the time to get there!

Thank you again for the apology, and I hope you can read this review as the even tempered explaination it was meant to be. :)

About all the noise about some people flaming , I think there always will be readers who are disappointed , so the better way to deal with them is to ignore their rants, I guess.


You're writing a painful but very lovely love story. :)

Author's Response: Sadly, ignoring them doesn't make them go away. I tried. There's some crazy person who apparently thinks I'm fun to flame. *shrugs*

loved it. eve's a bitch but she really seemed to be sorry for her harsh words to spike. or was she??? lol. great job. post soon.