Forward to Time Past by Unbridled_Brunette
Chapter: Chapter Thirty-One

LindsayH
06/02/2007 04:47 am
I laughed, and then I cried. His book! I'd have staked 'em all, just saying. Absolutely pitch-perfect chapter!
What wonderful praise. Thank you! :)

04/19/2007 03:44 am
poor william growing into spike and fighting every step. just like spike will fight going back to be william. very good read, thank you.
Thank you for reviewing!

04/15/2007 12:01 am
Brilliant! Bloody freaking brilliant! The entire chapter is gripping and poignant and thought-provoking. I don't even know where to begin. So, I guess I'll just have to start at the beginning and work my way down. This could get lengthy :)

The Anvil Chorus: I can just picture William tapping happily on his spike with a clink-clink sound punctuating his words. Drusilla giggling on the bed is a nice touch, as was William’s wink. You've done a good job incorporating the music and literature with which someone in William's station and time might have been familiar, and the pieces and quotes add a deeper level of meaning to story. Like in the "Song of Haiawatha.” I read the complete passage that you had quoted in a previous chapter, and found out that Shawondasee’s maid with yellow tresses turns out to be not a woman, but a dandelion. It made me think of how William was always afraid that his Elizabeth was an illusion, that his time with her was a figment of his imagination.

William’s drinking: This is completely in character for both canon Spike and FtTP William. Spike was always one to self-medicate with alcohol. William is dulling the pain of loosing Elizabeth, and also loosening his inhibitions (if he still has any) of torturing and mouthing off to Angelus.

Mouthing off to Angelus: Love it. William is acting like a petulant child trying to get big brother’s attention: “He used to play with me all the time, but now that he has a new girlfriend, he hardly notices that I exist” :pout: William’s testing his boundaries, and taking whatever kind of attention—good or bad—that he can get.

The newspaper publicity: As I’ve said before, parts of FtTP could easily have been inserted into the canon without anyone noticing a difference. This completely coincides with Angelus always getting angry with William drawing attention to the Fanged Four. I can understand that Angelus would want to remain under the humans’ radar, but I also kind of get the feeling that he’s a bit green with envy: “I took him under my wing, taught him everything he knows about hunting. And now he’s doing things his own way...I never got headlines in the papers.” :pout: But when Angelus sees William upset, he gives him pep talk. I love it :)

Castrating Havisham: hehehe. He may not be in love with Drusilla, but he doesn’t want her playing with another man’s manly bits :D

Drusilla destroying the book: Allow me applaud your use of symbolism. :clap: Drusilla destroyed William’s humanity in the literal sense, and now she’s destroyed it in the figurative sense. His love for Elizabeth is his last tie to the human world, and that book was his last tie to Elizabeth. He still has her ring, but was never really hers since Buffy left before he gave it to her. To William, the book represented his past with Elizabeth. The ring was a symbol of their future together, but now William believes that they have no future together. We, of course, know differently ;)

“Who am I, really?”: That’s the million dollar question, and what I presume will be the theme for the rest of Part Deux. This could also be inserted into the canon to explain why William created the persona of Spike, a vampire/human hybrid with a bloodlust, a yen for violence, and an attraction to human things like love, apples, and opera 
Yay! You read the Song of Hiawatha and got the rest of the reference. :D I also used the dandelion symbolism twice more in the story. Once when Buffy rejected William's proposal, and then again during William's dream. I was hoping someone would catch on to that!

Thanks so much for the review!

Dee
04/14/2007 03:11 am
You are writing William the vampire to well. I have really enoyed these last four chapters. Looking forward to the third part when Spike is reunited with Buffy. I am looking forward to where you take this story.
I'm so glad you like it. Thank you. :)

selene
04/13/2007 01:47 am
This story is wonderful. I really enjoyed reading it and look forward to the next chapter. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for reviewing. It really makes my day to hear that people like something I've written. :)

04/12/2007 03:08 pm
can't wait for your next update.
I'm glad. Thank you! :)

04/12/2007 04:46 am
Okay, now I've read it. Twice. And I gotta say- Wow! You've done such a good job capturing Spike, and William too.

This puts a whole new spin on why Spike could never seem to kill Buffy. Maybe he thought he was seeing a ghost?

Now I can't wait for more... soon please? :)
Thank you for the review. I'm so glad you like it. :)

hellbound
04/12/2007 01:25 am
Yay update! Double yay, good update! This fic just keeps getting better. Yay.
The way you show William's slide into the dark is really well done. Its interesting to see how you fit parts of William into the demon's brutality and come up with Spike in a way thats believable, that doesn't ignore the reality of violence inherent in vampirism. I liked the way you emphasized his loss of humanity with Dru's book destruction and again with Angelous' little speech, and finally with the lack of reflection. It shows we're finally dealing with the demon who will kill slayers and not the man who's heart was broken.
Thanks so much for the review!

04/11/2007 08:08 pm
Sometimes I just want Angelous to just die. He is trying to make a point and I understand that, but that book was the really LAST thing he had from his life.
I think Angelus thought he was helping, but you're right. It was just salt in the wound for poor William. Thanks for the review! :)

04/11/2007 10:58 am
Interesting read. William's gradual transformation into Spike is really well represted, very in-character. (ref toa/n chap 1: William's official lastname is Pratt? I didn't know that) ---Name Game
Yeah. Joss named him Pratt in one of the comic books, so that is supposed to make it canon. I have my doubts about the validity of this, though. ;)

Thanks for the review!

04/11/2007 05:29 am
I almost do a happy dance everytime I see an update for this story. It's such a fascinating look at the journey that takes us from human William to vampire Spike. I think what I find most intriguing is how you've shown us just how much Spike there was in human William and just how much of the human William still remains in Spike. I love the ending to this chapter where you show us the vampire grappling with his sense of self. This fic is truly a gripping character study. I think that by the time Spike arrived in good ol' Sunnyhell, the demon and the human were so intermingled that they really couldn't be separated into two independent personalities. I think that's part of what makes Spike such an intriguing character - much more so than Angel. Anyway, just wanted to let you know how much I'm enjoying this story. I'm eagerly looking forward to the next update. :)
What a sweet thing to say, HPfan. I'm glad you like it. :)

04/11/2007 04:35 am
Great chapter UB. And what's happening with dear Buffy - she should be pretty miserable right about now.
Thanks. I'm glad you like it. :)

Carole
04/11/2007 04:31 am
So good! I love Angelus, the perverse mentor, pointing out the truths to William. And Dru hoping to draw William down to her, out of the clouds, needing more. The drinking, the peevishness that
Angelus was not paying enough attention to him and a Spike head tilt? Love all these bits and pieces coming together.

“Oh, yes?” Angelus smirked. “Then tell me this, my lad. If your girl saw you now…if she saw what you’ve done in her absence…would she still love you?”

Well I hope so! In the meantime, I look forward to reading every single chapter.
I'm glad you like it. Thanks so much for taking the time to tell me so. :)

04/11/2007 04:25 am
This is a very interesting subject to explore - how Spike got to be who he was between his death and the time he met Buffy as a slayer. I've enjoyed reading it immensly - can't wait to read more!
I'm glad you like it, thank you. :)

04/11/2007 04:12 am
Ah, what a pleasure to read, my dear. Those fools at SR have no idea what they're talking about. William's slow evolution into Spike is so gripping as we see what elements of his former self he retains and what others are stripped away by the malevolent influence of Angelus. Personally, I never mind a spot of well written violence and the emotions behind it, the pain, are so evocative and run so deep in William. It's interesting to see Buffy slowly fade into a "happy memory" (as Dru would say) as the small articles of her existence are slowly snuffed out. Please do go on. I wait with bated breath.
Thanks so much, CoC. I appreciate the review. :)

04/11/2007 03:52 am
OMG! First off I can't believe I missed Chap. 30. Guess that is what happens when your on Spring Break. But on the plus side I had two chapters to read! Not joking when I say I was squealing with joy..well maybe a bit of a scream in there too. Seriously I'm so hooked on this fic, I feel like all those tweens and teens out there who are eagerly awaiting the next Harry Potter book.

Alright enough with the gushing, on to what I have to say on this chapter (I'll go back and comment on chapter 30 as well, later) I didn't recognize the song right off so I went to listen to it as I read. Thanks so much for that addition, it completed the mood. Perfect choice, now that I realize which tune it is. *LMAO* just as they get to the 'banging' noise in the song I read the first line and could just see him in my minds eye. When you have him bellow out the end of the song I laughed in glee at his rebeliousness. Not too mention this line...“If you don’t like this melody, I am open to suggestions.” *lol* Those paragraphs were so deliciously descriptive. I could see Angelus' influence in every stroke of the mallet and the emergence of 'Spike' rising forth. I shouldn't have enjoyed the evilness of it all but you wrote it so well.

Also I loved how you reminded me of Angelus' accent with the ..Oh, Jaysus, William.".. But even more profound was how he addressed the fact of how Elizabeth would not love what or who he had become. Which is exactly what I had been thinking of while I was reading his torture of David Havisham.

Again another incredible chapter, God bless your muse!
I'm glad you liked the song. And you're right. William, in his transition, is acting something like a rebellious teenager. He's testing his boundaries with Angelus. We'll just have to wait and see if Angelus pushes back. Thanks for the review! :)

04/10/2007 10:18 pm
Love it. Very disturbing. You almost want to start thinking of Spike as nothing more than a monster, until he shows his pain and the many layers of his love and hate.
William/Spike is not just your run of the mill monster, that's for sure. Thanks for the review!

04/10/2007 09:22 pm
I was so sure that the book would make it into the present. I do hope the ring does.
So interesting watching William turning into Spike. You are doing beautifully.
Well, now. You can't be sure of anything in life, can you? ;)

Thanks for the review!

Lou
04/10/2007 09:05 pm
Another excellent chapter -- poor William's transformation into Spike is well on its way.
Thanks. :)

bynee
04/10/2007 04:48 pm
Ijust love the way you personify spike.....layers n layers of paradox
Thank you. I appreciate the review. :)

04/10/2007 04:02 pm
I love this chapter. I shows how different William is from other vampires... Great work here!
Thank you. I'm glad you like it!

04/10/2007 01:43 pm
And Spike is born...Another wonderful look at how William became a contributing member of the Scourge of Europe, sweetie. Good job!
Thanks. :)

04/10/2007 01:06 pm
lol last chapter he was eating an apple, this chapter he's reading poetry.... lol he's not very good at being a vampire is he :lol: hahaha the vengeance against archer and what-sis-face kind of made up for it tho I guess.. great update!! You've got me absolutely hooked on this story, can't wait to read more :D
I'm glad to hear it. Thanks for the review. :)

04/10/2007 12:39 pm
How terribly sad! Hope this Spike is as smart as the one in canon to realize what tripe the whole nonsense is that William is gone entirely!

Very visual...the murders and Dru's demented cutting up of her "rival"......so very well written.

Kathleen
Thanks. I'm glad you liked it. :)

LadyYashka
04/10/2007 10:46 am
I feel bad for William. He no longer has his book. I actually hated Dru when William found her with his book.

And now he's not sure who he is anymore. Even after his turning he thought of himself as William, and then Angelus had to change that.

And finally, this was a wonderful update. The song was the perfect background music for the torture scene. :D
I'm glad you liked it. As always, thanks for the review. :)

kim
04/10/2007 09:30 am
The book....!!!!! Oh, no.....!

Angelus' lessons continue to be interesting. A contrast compared to how he was after the soul.

And how true, that Spike could never hurt Dru unless it was absolutely necessary, or if she asked him to.

Poor, poor William......
Thanks for the review, kim. As always, I appreciate it. :)

04/10/2007 07:30 am
I remembered the thrall, but I'd forgotten about Dru's sight. His book didn't have a chance once she had a chance at it. Looking forward to more insight on the making of Spike the vampire out of William the poet.
I'm glad you like it. Thanks. :)

04/10/2007 07:19 am
The Anvil Chorus is on youtube? Wow, a very appropriate tune, I can see him striking the spike as he sang the song. Hope Dru does find the ring too! He may need to put it some where for safe keeping. Just because Angelus doesn't feel that way about it does mean that all vamps would. Poor William, he still has human emotions even without a soul. Great work, thanks for the update.
There's a video clip of it being played on youtube; I couldn't figure out any other way to let my readers hear it. I'm glad you liked the song; it was the first one that came to mind, when the scene of William singing during torture, came to me. Thanks for the review. :)

Deb
04/10/2007 07:10 am
Brilliant chapter.
Thank you so much!

Onyx
04/10/2007 07:09 am
Such PAAAIN!!!!!!! >_<
I love this story more every chapter. It is one of the most brilliant things I have ever read.
Ah, you revel in my angst. Admit it. :P

04/10/2007 06:39 am
You already know I love this chapter, I just had to make it official. Fabulous work, my dear...as always. I just love your William and his progress towards becoming the Spike we all know and fear/love.
Thanks, Always. I really appreciate that -- and all the help you gave me. :)