Broken Things by TalesofSpike
Chapter: Chapter 8

McPastey
03/08/2016 10:18 am
I wish there were like a thousand more chapters to this story!

04/21/2013 02:20 am
    Ohhhhh, gutted. Lol, this was awesome.

  I guess I'll fill the rest in with my imagination, but the author is actually better than my brain.

03/19/2013 01:24 pm
Good, hope you finish it someday

magnus374
05/04/2012 08:18 am

To bad this is unfinished, but what we have is good.

wolfgal
01/29/2012 09:36 pm

Thought this deserved a review. I love how well written this is and how so well done the characters are. I really wish there was more to read, but... eh. Would have been nice to see how you did Intervention and Spiral.

09/19/2011 04:55 am
Now.... you MUST continue this.  It is amazing and insightful... and I really have to know what happens next. 

Peace,

Blue
http://www.tthfanfic.org/authors.php?no=12717&list=profile

Sunshine
08/16/2010 04:37 pm
Oh, I like this - does it continue ?

11/04/2006 04:34 pm
awsome story kinda confused me a little but i caught on when i red through it properly and i think u well need to finish it!!! so yeah good job :)
Hi honey!

Sorry for the belated reply but at the moment "real life" seems to be sucking up more of my time than normal. Between that and the muse being unco-operative, it's now over a month since I've written anything (which while fairly unusual - my normal pattern is to try to update at least one fic a week - isn't unheard of especially if I hit burn out), but rest assured in the four and a bit years that I've been writing, I've yet to leave a fic incomplete, so as soon as circumstances allow I will get back to it.

I'm really glad you've enjoyed it so much, and I'll try to make sure that when I do get back to it, that the rest of the story lives up to the beginning.

Robyn
09/04/2006 09:26 pm
I read your response to my previous comment and yes I realize I am always behind, particularly of late. Real life has a way of getting in the way of me keeping current on my updates but I am keeping track of them and it doesn’t mean that I don’t really love and enjoy this story because I do and I do thank you for you concern, nothing is worse then not realizing a fic you are following is finished and missing the last chapter or so.
As for this chapter, Buffy for all her emotional problems really showed great presence of mind in calling her mom and sending her to Spike. Buffy really isn’t capable of helping him, and with that lack of ability she still managed to send Joyce who is probably the best person on the planet to be there for him right now. I love that Tara was the only person at home and that she was able to be there for Buffy and help her see things in a non judgmental light and make a decision before Willow, who is the least judgmental of the Scoobies, came home. Willow’s reaction was perfect for this time frame and I can only imagine how much worse Giles’ and even more so Xander’s would have been. Thanks so much for the update I really enjoyed it.
Wheeeeeee! Thank you, honey!

That was so very much my view of things. A lot of the feedback for this fic has had me wanting to tear my hair out and/or bash my head off the desk because so many people just can't seem to appreciate the timeframe. I feel like I'm constantly justifying myself/Buffy/everyone's reactions and yet they're all either in line with or softened compared with canon for the period.

It really makes my day when someone is so in tune with how I view things.

Thanks again!

sirc
08/30/2006 06:00 pm
Loved it :)
Thanks, honey! More once my other WIP is finished and I get my beta's b'day fic written.

lOU
08/23/2006 08:54 pm
Wise Tara - Willow was a bit harsh wasn't she?
Thanks, honey. As for Willow, I pretty much kept her reaction as it was in canon, but I just let Tara have her say first, knowing that once Buffy makes up her mind, she tends to dig her heels in.

08/21/2006 02:51 pm
well I am glad that Buffy was trying to look after Spike in some fashion by getting her mother to go to him. I just love how Tara always had a calming feature about herself and leave it to Willow to just jump on the "Tell Spike NO and kick him out band wagon". I just hope he is okay.
Thanks, honey! I couldn't see Buffy being able to cope with the situation herself, but she did the next best thing she could, and instead of her going running to Joyce, she sent her to Spike... and let's face it in that situation I bet she really would have liked to go running to mom.

That said, if mom's busy then Tara is pretty much the best possible substitute, and for Willow, I just pretty much stuck with how she was in canon... though to be fair, Willow has plenty of experience with Evil Spike and no real first hand experience of Not So Evil Spike (unless you count him punching Tara and I have a feeling that that probably went in Willow's minus column), so in a way her attitude is understandable.

And the best answer I can give you to whether he's okay is that he's got Joyce.

vladt
08/19/2006 09:48 pm
very good update, thank you. glad to see buffy sending joyce to spike and very glad to see tar being the one she talks to about what happening. love tara.
Thanks!

love tara
Don't we all?

08/19/2006 08:43 pm
keep it up, buffy...stay strong regardless of your other friends and listen to tara...i hope to see how spike's doing in the next chapter...this one was excellent...great job ;)
Thanks, honey!

Yeah, we all knew what Willow and/or Xander would have to say if she went to either of them for advice, so I thought it was time for a different point of view.

Yep, the next chapter should have some Spike in it.

Hugs

margaret
08/19/2006 06:37 pm
forgot of i reviewed here or not, but great chapter, glad tara has a bigger part to play
I only posted here this morning (always update archives later than my own site/LJ/GJ) so probably not.

I'm glad you liked it, honey. Tara always did have a more compassionate view than any of the others.

Thanks!

Emliee
08/19/2006 04:01 pm
Well Tara's advice was certainly rational and got Buffy's head on straight, but can I just mention that running from Spike to have girl talk after he dusted his Sire ranks pretty high up on the Cold Scale? Compassionate Buffy really took a walk on that one. Looking forward to the next update.
Thanks, honey!

I guess Buffy's actions could be interpreted that way, but really she did what she could. It's not as if she left because she couldn't care less. Emotional scenes have never been her strong point, and if she was some wonderful paradigm of virtue she'd be a far less interesting character. If you compare her actions here to what happened in Fool For Love, I think you'll find she's making progress.

Thanks for taking the time to comment.

08/19/2006 03:21 pm
Geez, I'm all caught up now. Just love Tara, glad she was the one to be there and help Buffy get through this. That will be an interesting conversation with her mom when she tell her mom about Spike's feelings and her will remember what he told her. Hope you can update soon. As the new chapters come in, you'll find that I'm not above begging when I find a story that I like. Great story here. Thanks for the read.
Yep, so much for me hoping I wasn't keeping you awake, huh?

Yeah, it's going to be fun seeing how things go with her mom. Of course, that depends on how much Spike has said in the meantime and how much is down to Buffy... and that damn awkward muse hasn't seen fit to tell me what he's decided about that.

I'm hoping I can update soon, too, but chances are it won't be as soon as I might like. I have two WIPs at the moment (the other one is totally different so liking this one is no guarantee you'd like the other). Both of them started out as birthday presents for people so, if I deviate from my arrangement of alternating chapters, then chances are someone will pout. Next up is a chapter of Unfinished Business and probably by the time I get that done it'll be a dash to get a b'day ficlet done for Spike's Heart and then, hopefully, I'll get back to this one...

Dee Bradfield
08/19/2006 03:12 pm
I think it's a step forward for Buffy that she called Joyce. Her usual M.O. is to just run, usually without talking to anybody. It's good to see her reaching out in her own Buffy-ish way.

Also - Yay for Tara! She's such a steadying influence, and I love that she doesn't judge. It's a pity the same can't be said of Buffy's other friends.
Thanks, honey! It definitely IS a step forward. If you have any doubt you just need to look at FFL to see she's come a vast way and I'm so glad someone sees it that way.

And, yeah, Tara really does have a maturity that the other Scoobies lack, but in the others' defence they do carry round some Spike baggage from earlier seasons.

Bridget
08/19/2006 03:04 pm
Good chapter. I am glad that Buffy saw Tara first. She is the most reasonable and kind person of the bunch. I hope Buffy actually follows through on what Tara said.
Thanks, honey!

I think you'll find that once Buffy makes up her mind on something she tends to dig her heels in. I'm pretty certain that she'll stick by her intentions... at least until Spike does something to screw things up.

Hugs poor Tara, who is probably going to get a telling off from Willow as soon as Buffy is gone for daring to have an opinion of her own.

kim
08/19/2006 01:31 pm
LOL...well, I understand where Buffy's coming from, it just frustrates me....especially because it's so easy to look at Spike if you just actually stop to see and realize he's more than the attitude.
Frankly, though, I think he's enough of an adult not to take a flying leap just from a tiny bit of comfort in a moment of grief. Seeing Red happened when it did because what they had been doing to each other made him unstable and desperate. That's not Spike now at all.

And I am glad the band-aided the situation by calling Joyce right away. I'm just disappointed in her (not you) for running out like she did without a word, etc.
Okay, last response becauee, well, time spent replying is time away from writing and I suspect I could try to explain myself for hours and I don't think we'd see from the same viewpoint.

As for the Seeing Red comment, I'm not saying that that would necessarily happen, just that all the ingredients were there so I can't blame Buffy for heading as fast as she could in the other direction.

Adult is neither here nor there. He's a guy, with working genitalia. She's a young pretty woman... and he's BROKEN. Regardless of what happened to bring the situation about he IS unstable and desperate. It makes little difference that in this case its down to grief rather than the aftereffects of a bad relationship, in fact, basic psychology suggests that death and sex are linked, that the drive to make new life is heightened exponentially when we lose someone. If he's not so broken as to make the situation risky from at least the point of him overstepping the line so badly that Buffy would be forced to slap him down, then he's obviously taking things far better than I would have expected him to.

As for the lack of pretty speeches... they really aren't Buffy's thing. She did the best she could, which is pretty much all any of us ever can.

Tonia
08/19/2006 10:37 am
At least Spike won't be alone and thank God for Tara! Great Chapter and I can't wait for more.
Thank you, honey! I'm soooo glad you liked it. And, yes, thank God, Gaia or whoever for Tara...

Next chapter might not be as quick as I would like, since I'll have to squeeze in a birthday ficlet as well as the usual chapter of Unfinished Business before I can get back to this, but I'll do my best.

akarinacj
08/19/2006 10:08 am
Great chapter. Please update soon, please. Poor Spike, left alone,after what happened!!!!
Thank you, honey! I'll see what I can do, my other WIP and RL permitting. Spike won't be alone for long, and really Joyce is far and away better qualified to take care of him, not least because he isn't in love with her.

Thanks again!

Dirktavian
08/19/2006 10:07 am
Absolutely brilliant update! Looking forward to Buffy and Spike's next meeting.
Thank you!

I'm glad you liked it. I shan't make any promises for whether you'll get your wish next chapter as it depends how much alone time Spike and Joyce take up, but hopefully you won't have to wait too long.

kim
08/19/2006 09:23 am
And okay, I get that she's incompetant when it comes to emotional/mentally challenging situations, but her behavior is such at odds with how I would have been....it's hard to show any compassion for her being so...ugh....

I had a friend, when we were 5, that was being abused by her dad, and she came to me for comfort and advise...even at that age...so helping others through tragedy is something I was born with to handle. A gift of empathy, as my family refers to it as. Just wanted to let you know where I'm coming from on the Buffy opinions.

I am very glad that she got deterred from the hate train very quickly, and that Spike won't be disinvited from the house soon. I can't imagine the shape the poor Desoto's in. She decided to drive, in that state? Truly scary!!!!
I think your comment actually sort of illustrates where I'm coming from... It's easy to have compassion for our friends. We care about them. What hurts them hurts us.

Spike isn't Buffy's friend. The possibility is there that maybe she might come to think of him that way, but at the moment she's had no more than a couple of glimpses under the facade. She doesn't know him. Doesn't know how he'll react, doesn't know anything much about him... other than he's vulnerable, desperately hurt, needy, more physically orientated than most and he has feelings for her. You want my opinion, she's the worst person to be offering comfort. The very fact that he's attracted to her makes it dangerous for her to be offering any form of physical comfort. It makes it far too easy for signals to get mixed up and for things to go disasterously wrong. You want to see Seeing Red happen a season early, then, yeah, she should have stayed...

You can't relate to Buffy, who has had to wall herself around to survive, so why should she, at this very very early stage in their getting to know each other, be automatically attuned to Spike?

And, on a less serious note, yep, the poor DeSoto at the very least is probably going to have some wear and tear on its gearbox that it didn't need... And decided is probably too strong a word. It implies a degree of conscious thought which she was pretty much lacking at that point.

Again, thanks for your comments.

kim
08/19/2006 09:08 am
Thank you, Tara!!! Thank you, thak you, thank you...

Poor Spike...he needed comfort, and the coward just ran. At least she called Joyce...who's probably going to reprimand Buffy when she sees her next. You know, Buffy, just because Angel didn't act devastated when he staked Darla for you, doesn't mean that Spike's going to have an easy time severing that connection with his sire. Dru was his everything, until you came along. Nearly 120 years of making her his world. This death is huge, and she couldn't show an inch of compassion and cry with him....bitch.
It would have been enough comfort just to lay your hand on his shoulder, or hold his hand. Just so he wasn't alone.
Coward, maybe...

Bitch, well, it wouldn't be exactly OOC if she was. FFL anyone...

Self-centred, definitely... and human and flawed just like us all.

As for Joyce, I'd have to work pretty hard to justify that much of a departure from her canon reaction to discovering Spike was in love with Buffy... not that I was exactly in agreement with the path the writers chose for Joyce, but it seems to me that Joyce would be more worried about what to do to make things right, than in laying blame.

From your reaction (which still seems more based on the last chapter than this), it would seem that I completely failed in my main objective for this chapter, but as it appears that the only alternative would have been to make Buffy act in a way that would have been OOC, I guess I have to chalk it up to you can't please all the people all the time...

Thanks for taking the time to comment anyway.

pretty_in_fangs
08/19/2006 07:54 am
Wow. I'm very impressed with Buffy that, in that state, she thought to call Joyce to look after Spike. Well done.

And it's incredible the difference of having the first reaction be from Tara rather than the Scoobies can make.
Thanks, honey!

I always had it in mind that even though I couldn't see Buffy dealing with the situation (or not without the whole run and regroup M.O.) that hopefully, I'd moved her far enough along the path to seeing Spike as a person that she wouldn't be able to just walk away as she did in the ep. Fool for Love.

Hugs Tara! Yeah, Buffy's one of those people who tends to make up her mind and then stick to it so having Tara's calming influence when the crisis hit makes a huge difference.