Table of Contents
The River’s Daughter by Triskelion
- In Blue Moon’s Light

WiffyForums Fic of the Month Winners for March and April 2009
- Bodies Scattered Like Time in the Wind by Anonymous

- Footprints by Valyssia

Vicarious
- Blood Like Rain

- Don’t Lie

Description
The River’s Daughter
The daughters of the river god Achelous in Greek mythology were referred to by a host of names, though there are never said to be more than three of them and many authors reference only two. They were also called ‘Winged Maidens’ and the ‘Daughters of the Earth’ by Helen. No one could seem to agree who these women were. That is until Homer gave them a name in the Odyssey that endured the test of time, ‘The Sirens.’
In Blue Moon’s Light
From the episode Wild at Heart:
GILES
But you've felt that way yourself, and you got through it.
BUFFY
Well, I ran away and went to hell - and then I got through it. I'm kind of hoping Willow won't use me as a model.
GILES
Fair enough.
From In Blue Moon’s Light:
Tempt fate much?
All the damned time. It’s a gift.
In my defense, it really wasn’t me, it was Giles. He just had to toss that out there.
Yes, Giles, I got through it. Thanks so much for pointing that out.
Bodies Scattered Like Time in the Wind
This piece is the work of an author who wishes to remain anonymous. What follows is the description I was given for the story.
What if you could undo the one thing you regretted the most. What would you do? Would it help? Or just make it so much worse? If you’d just murdered your best friend, even though she’s still at your side, would you try to erase that reality? Would the universe forgive you? Would she? A price must be demanded.
Footprints
This is the piece I wrote for a contest at WiffyForums.
The plot seed we were all handed stated that Buffy comes into the possession of a powerful magical item. This item is a ring. When worn, the bearer is able to manipulate the past or future in their sleep, effectively time traveling through dream. In this story Buffy has just awoken to find that she’s restored something that has great importance to her using the ring called ‘Aion.’ Those of you who have a little Greek mythology under your belts will get the significance of the name.
Footprints is most probably a singular entity within the fandom. Another piece like it may exist as a lark or a joke. But that doesn’t exclude what it is, nor does it smother my pride in the piece. I think it’s one of the single best things I’ve ever written and its only 1000 words. In fact, it is exactly 1000 words.
What makes it unique, you ask?
The point of view.
It is entirely second person narrative, present tense. If you’ve ever tried to read Bright Lights, Big City you’ll understand exactly what I mean.
Here's a passage from Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney:
“You are not the kind of guy who would be at a place like this at this time of the morning. But here you are, and you cannot say that the terrain is entirely unfamiliar, although the details are fuzzy. You are at a nightclub talking to a girl with a shaved head. The club is either Heartbreak or the Lizard lounge. All might come clear if you could just slip into the bathroom and do a little more Bolivian Marching Powder.”
Second person narrative isn’t used very often. Human beings just aren’t given to think of themselves as ‘you’ unless they are irritated with something they’ve done. It’s easy to use second person when chiding yourself. Making it feel natural and not disjointed is an incredible challenge for a writer. Sustaining that for more than a few hundred words is difficult. Conveying any real emotion with it is more challenging still.
I’ve taken what I need from this piece. It did okay in the contest, but I really didn’t care. I wanted to offer something different. I knew that the majority of people would be put off by the point of view. That they wouldn’t get it. The few who did called it ‘beautiful.’
What more can I ask?
Vicarious
This story is set in my original Thirteen Steps AU.
Here’s the recipe:
- Take one already overpowered superhero.
- Turn her evil.
- Add a dash of invulnerability.
- Force her to kill the one thing that means pretty much everything to her.
- Stir liberally.
- Then turn her loose on an unsuspecting public.
It’s a total romp from beginning to end.
Author’s Notes
Bodies Scattered Like Time in the Wind
As stated above, the author of this piece wishes to remain anonymous. Here are the notes I was given:
I wrote ‘Bodies’ right up to the deadline for submissions to the WiffyForums contest, with maybe a half an hour to spare. There were several variations. The story you see here isn’t even remotely close to the story I sat down to write. The end was the beginning until my final four hours of work. I moved the whole first scene to the end, rewrote the actual ending, and then made it fit. I think it worked out better than I have a right to expect.
I wrote from Willow’s point of view for the first time in ‘Bodies.’ It was a fun little challenge and I think I did ok. I’m not sure if I differentiated her voice enough from Buffy’s though.
Footprints
One missing comma and two misused homonyms were corrected by Howard Russell before the piece was posted. And boy did I feel like a bonehead over the homonyms. Otherwise, what you see is what I wrote.
Vicarious
Howard Russell served as primary beta and co-conspirator for this piece. Angie offered her services as pre-reader.
Awards
- All material derived from pop culture at large is the property of its respective owner. No copyright infringement is intended. Please read the disclaimer.
- © Valyssia Leigh 2009