Reviews for Running on Faith: Season One
| Quortoth |
02/04/06 - 10:34AM |
22: Episode 22: You Call This a Finale? |
Signed |
I loved this story, like the others. Dawn is really becoming her own, in the magic. That's cool. And Conner isn't all hostile, at the moment anyway. Dana andConner going to England, kind of makes me think of them going to Hawii, but that's just my mind doing the weird stuff it does. Great story, I'm going to have to read the next season.
Author's Response: Yes, Dawn like Faith, is developing in her own way. I hoe you enjoy the next seaosn as much as you enjoyed this one. I really appreciate the time you took to share your thoughs on the story with me. Thanks! |
| dutchgirl |
11/20/05 - 07:49AM |
22: Episode 22: You Call This a Finale? |
Signed |
I’m very happy you decided to write a spin-off with these characters. I personally think Faith, Connor and Dawn had more potential to grow then the show had shown. I also like that you decided to not make Buffy or Angel a regular because these characters tend to become the leading-roles and the other characters fall into their shadows, but they are very important characters to f/c/d so you let them drop by at the most important parts were there suppose to show up as a sister, boss or a father. Then as a forth character you throw in Spike and he is very good choice I think because he kind off supports them and becomes the link between f/c/d and b/a. He also becomes more off a character on his own, in season 7 he hardly had any connection with the other scoobies just Buffy witch is a shame, I had hoped they would have sort of restored the relationship between Spike and Dawn, witch you do, Hooray!! The story is also well-thought-through, I liked what you did with Connor's character (amazing). His story-line also supported Faith's who was becoming a leader on her own (defying Buffy), but also keeping Faith human who makes ‘mistakes’ by not letting her kill the mayor witch to me makes sense, she loved him and he was there for her when nobody else was so you tend to look the other way. I wish this would have aired on t.v. people would have loved it, I at least did ^^.
Author's Response: Thanks for your review. Obviously I agree that Faith, Dawn, and Connor had a lot of untapped potential. I hope to make the characters keep growing. I feel like maybe I’ve been too stagnant in my development of Faith, but we’ll see. I also thing you’re correct that Angel and Buffy tend to dominate whatever stories they’re in. That’s why they’re occasional guest stars, but not regulars. Spike will be reconnecting with a lot of people and I’m glad you like what I did with Connor and Faith. I like it when my plots get called amazing :) Thanks again so much for reviewing. It means so much to me that you took the time to do that. |
| Selene |
03/25/05 - 10:27PM |
22: Episode 22: You Call This a Finale? |
Signed |
Please let the Dawn/Connor relationship grow. I really feel like they might be good for one another. I know you don't really go for convetional ships but this one feels right. I LOVE that Lorne unleashed on Angel. Very valid points that needed to be said by someone that had been with Angel from the days of AI to Wolfram & Hart. Dawn has matured into a facinating part of this new team you have going. I love the Faith Dawn dynamic.Connor playing tag and not knowing the game was heartbreaking. Getting them back on track and Angel taking the hard road is such a foreign experience for him. I can't wait to start reading Season 2. I am really glad that I found this story and thank you for sharing.
Author's Response: You’ll have to read next season if you want to see what comes of Dawn and Connor. Lorne told Angel a lot of things that Angel should have been told a long time ago. Thanks for mentioning Dawn’s maturing. I always thought Dawn was portrayed as too bratty on the show. Then I remembered that she was actually pretty young. So, why not show her growing up. Not *grown* up, but *growing*. Faith, as someone who is also not seen the way she’d liked to be, understands Dawn’s need to have her growth acknowledged. I thought it’d be neat to throw out yet another reminder that Connor’s childhood was not normal and that he’s very deeply scarred by that. Thank you so much for reading the story and sharing your thoughts with me. It means more than I can express. |
| tamzinrose |
02/18/05 - 03:31PM |
22: Episode 22: You Call This a Finale? |
Signed |
You know, stuff like this is really rare. Stuff that's like an actual episode. Stuff that's powerful, believable and emotional. Stuff that captures the characters and the relationships. Stuff that pulls the readers right in. I got hooked reading this. It took me all damned day but I read it. And you know what? I didn't feel like I'd wasted my day sitting here reading this. Because it's brilliant. You have a very rare, very special talent. I am glad I read this. You rock muchly! If you don't write a Season 2, it'll be just as bad as the whole ending of Buffy and Angel thing in the first place. Don't take away my subsititute. I'm slowly weaning myself off my addiction and this is perfect help! Well done! Oh My Goddess!
Author's Response: Um . . . wow. And thank you. This is all I really have to say. Wow and thank you. I’m really, really happy I was able to create a story that made at least one person so happy. Season 2 is being written. At this point, a few chapters are up, so you can check them out if you want. I hope you’ll read it and enjoy it as much as you did this one. Thanks again for reading and for you very, very kind review. |
| crzybree |
01/25/05 - 07:21PM |
22: Episode 22: You Call This a Finale? |
Signed |
AI really loved this story. You are a great writer. I can't wait to read the second season. Well here I go off to the next one. Keep writin.
Author's Response: Glad you liked it. Hopefully season 2 will keep you just as entertained. |
| Angeldove |
12/15/04 - 02:07AM |
22: Episode 22: You Call This a Finale? |
Signed |
I have to of course start with mentioning how much I was loving the Firefly reference in "Shiny". Just warms me thinking about it again as I write this. Secondly, I enjoyed Angel and Connor’s interaction that spilled over from the previous ep with: ”Connor, I . . . I overestimated your understanding of this place,” Angel conceded sadly. “I thought you’d learn your lesson if you were on your own a while. You were right. I never should have thrown you out like that. I thought you needed some tough love. Now I think maybe you’ve gotten about as much of that as one person could bear.” Didn’t this just need to be said? Although the ”Champions” speech will forever be immortalized, the action of throwing Connor out onto the street, into a world he didn’t know, or understand, at no fault of his own, seemed overly harsh. Especially given the fact that Connor’s lack of knowledge about our world was, although indirectly, largely Angel’s fault. So as this episode ends, I am glad to see there is a second season. Thank God some of you other readers came out and reviewed!!! I can see that many of you wanted to wait until the end to review, but if you only knew how close to’ no end’ there would have been to review, you would have thrown a few out here and there along the way!!!! To all readers, especially those who are not also writers, reviews are important to keeping a writer motivated. If the writer doesn’t feel like anyone out there is reading or cares, then he has little incentive to continue or finish. I tend to review chapter by chapter (no matter how long it may take me as is seen by my tardiness in posting this review) however, a review here and there, just to let the author know you are still there, enjoying the story, goes a long way to making the writing process less stressful and more enjoyable, as fanfic should be. Enough of my soapboxing – just happy Filmtheory is finally getting his deserved credit, and hoping that it will only increase as ”Running on Faith” season two begins.
Author's Response: hanks for the review. That was real Shiny of you. Am I using that right? I think Angel apologizing for booting Connor out had to be said. Even when it happened, I thought it was a really, really dumb thing to do. You realize that your son's moral compass doesn't exactly point north, and your solution is to send him off on his own and hope he figures things out. I hesitate to say that Holts was a *better* father than Angel. However, I think Holtz certainly was a more *responsible* father. Or rather, he did a better job at fulfilling the responsibilities of a father. One of the things fathers must do for their sons is to teach them how to function in the world in which they exist. Holtz very thoroughly prepared Connor for existence in Quar'Toth. Angel's few attempts at teaching Connor how to live in this world was giving him vague and sanctimonious lectures in the vein of "Be a champion!" and "Get over it!" I can understand how Angel could make the mistake of throwing Connor out. It's his inability to acknowledge that as a mistake that always drove me nuts. Thanks for the soapboxing there. I'm definitely feeling the love these days. Chapter 6 of RoF, season 2 is *almost* ready. |
| filmtheory |
11/14/04 - 02:10AM |
22: Episode 22: You Call This a Finale? |
Signed |
This was an e-mail from Vamp1976: I loved Running on Faith Season 1. I hope that Season 2 will be just as good. Keep Connor around-he's my favorite.
Author's Response: I’m shocked to find that there’s another Connor fan out there! Yes, Connor is in season 2. He’s not in the first episode, but he shows up soon after. |
| filmtheory |
11/04/04 - 10:28AM |
22: Episode 22: You Call This a Finale? |
Signed |
This review is an e-mail from Aya Hineshi: Hi! I read the entire fic and I definitely love it. The chaos and mayhem made sense. And having the scoobies meet up with
Angel...just great. I loved the subtle and not so subtle interaction with each characters. Love how you portrayed Angel and Connor here. And dawn being jealous...having a crush and growing up. Faith being stronger. Dana and Connor, Spike....great plot...definitely love it. Thank you for a wonderful read. As for a sequel....YES! Thanks again.
Author's Response: Thanks for the e-mail. Feedback is wonderful, especially when it's like this. It really keeps me going. I'm working on a sequel, but it's been tough getting time. I'm so happy you liked the plot and characters. I really enjoyed writing them. Thanks Again! |
| jords |
10/23/04 - 10:09AM |
22: Episode 22: You Call This a Finale? |
Signed |
Yours is the first story I have read at this site, not to mention the first post-Angel finale story I have ever read. It blew away any notions I had that the story could not go on; indeed now I can only hope that any story churned out by Mutant Enemy about the new Slayer Council will come close to yours in brilliance.
The obvious love and respect you have for this universe showed with every chapter. You took what was already a wonderful story and held true to it while giving it your own twist. There simply are not enough positive things for me to write about this story.
I sincerely hope that you will continue on with a second season - you have me hooked!
Thanks for sharing.
~j
Author's Response: Wow! Thanks! It's always great when someone takes the time to review, but especially when it's way, way too nice. Thanks so much. |
| Danielle_G |
10/15/04 - 03:04AM |
22: Episode 22: You Call This a Finale? |
Signed |
I think a second season would be great! I really enjoyed reading the first season!
Author's Response: Thanks. 3 and a half eps of season 2 are written. I just need to get a few done before I start posting so I can go back and fix and inconsistencies ahead of time. |
| Monkey Pants |
10/12/04 - 08:08PM |
22: Episode 22: You Call This a Finale? |
Signed |
An excellent series that definitely merits a second season. Wouldn't be surprised if Mr Whedon contacted you to be on his writing staff for a future Buffyverse series. :-)
Interesting how Dawn and Connor were given wider dimensions to their characters, as they originally functioned on tv as the stereotypical surly youths.Not many people could write their characters so convincingly. Well done!
Author's Response: Thanks for reading and thanks for the review. You're way, way too kind. One of my goals was definitely to further develop the characters. I think Faith, Dawn, and Connor all had the potential to be more multi-faceted. Hopefully I’ll do that more in season 2. |
| embargo |
10/11/04 - 08:35PM |
22: Episode 22: You Call This a Finale? |
Signed |
First I would like to say that I never offer a review, but your story was very good I have read it from the beginning and have kept silent waiting for the end. Let me just say it was worth the wait. It was an excellent beginning to what I would consider a worth while contender to the programs themselves. The story line was excellent I like to the idea of basing a fiction around two characters that I always considered don’t get enough screen time in other fan fictions. Faith & Connor are very unique characters and you have captured them well I especially liked the way you seamlessly made the transition from geeky college Conner to feral Connor, and nicely incorporated the character Dana.
If I could make a suggestion for your second season, and I truly hope that you will consider this I would like to see less of the original cast i.e. Angel, Buffy, Willow, and Giles. I’d be more interested in seeing these characters in sparse guest appearances and more concentration on this new team while seeing you add a few original characters like Angel did when the show broke free of Buffy. You have a great core of characters to expand upon. Again I can’t say how much I enjoyed your story as a whole.
Author's Response: Thank you. Thank you for reading. Thank you for enjoying. Thank you for your far too gracious review. Just to let you know, two and a half episodes of season 2 are written, so I’m almost definitely going ahead with it. There are a few old faces (and one new one) in the first few episodes. However, I will be concentrating more on original characters and new villains. Again, thank you so much for reviewing. |
| Michael J |
10/10/04 - 07:47PM |
22: Episode 22: You Call This a Finale? |
Signed |
The final chapter of my favorite series. Before I get into specifics, I just want to say that I sincerely hope you write another season. Find other writers if you have to. As for this specific chapter, I'm so glad you had one of the final scenes being Dawn and Faith working side by side with noone else. There was hardly any Faith/Dawn interaction during the whole season and since assumingly the show should be based on them, I found that disappointed. I felt like you really got to the root of what you started out to write here, Dawn's growth into a confident woman (and thank you for having Buffy acknowledge that) and Faith truly becoming a slayer and a hero in her own right. Faith saving Buffy (especially in a way that Buffy would never do if the roles were reversed) was inspired and brilliantly written. Loved all the Angel/Connor stuff even though it still somewhat suffers from the over detailedness I described in the last chapter review. I read a bunch of your responses to other reviews and if I were you, I would seriously stay away from writing a plot point specifically to get a reaction (like Connor/Buffy). I felt like that was the beginning of you getting off the track of Faith's journey and centering on Connor's. I also thought Drusilla, even though she had ample character motivation, was wasted and unnecessary to bring in. As a whole, the series suffered a bit from you trying to use as many characters as possible instead of introducing new characters. For example, I'm intrigued at the Markovic family reappearing, but a casual reader might not care since you haven't mentioned them in several chapters. Introducing them and then completely ignoring them as soon as Dawn was rescued led me to believe that they weren't important characters and as such, I had no reason to worry about them. Truthfully, I still don't care about them being the villians later because not enough was done with them in the beginning. If they are to be Faith's major adversaries, I think you needed to provide a bit more of them during this season. With all that said, this was an excellent series and I sincerely hope you do another season. Like I said, if the task is too daunting, get some other writers!!
Author's Response: Thanks for reading and reviewing. I’m glad this was your favorite series. It’s also difficult for me to tailor the story to anyone person’s tastes. Many of the aspects of the story you mention as weaknesses are mentioned by others as their favorite parts. So if I continue the series, you’ll have to continue taking the good with the bad. I’d like to note that I never wrote anything *solely* to get a reaction. Specifically, the Buffy/Connor hook up was in part to create tension between Connor and Spike as well as Connor and Angel. I realize the move was a pretty daring one and would likely provoke a response, just as many events on Buffy and Angel did. The Connor/Spike tension, I think, turned out to be important in future episodes. It certainly said a lot about Spike’s character. Despite not liking Connor and actually being jealous of the kid, Spike never fails to come to Connor’s aid. I also disagree that Drusilla was wasted. First off, Dru’s always a hoot. Second, she played an interesting role in the series. Third, she’ll probably be back to build upon the havoc she wreaked this time around. Fourth, I did intend this to be like a season of a show, including mini-arcs and stand alone episodes. Dru was a mini-arc. If the series suffered from too many characters, it wasn’t because I was “trying to use as many characters as possible.” In fact, I was constantly trying to use as few characters as possible. And I agree that I probably threw too many characters into the mix. But this was solely because I was forced to use these certain characters as they already filled certain roles that I needed filled. Although I’m not happy with how many I eventually had to use, I don’t feel like anyone’s appearance was “wasted.” Perhaps guest characters didn’t develop, but that’s not really the point of a guest spot. As for the Markovic family, I completely disagree with your assessment of how I handled them, both in terms of the story’s integrity and in terms of audience interest. I feel like your statement that I should have left them in is akin to saying that Jonathan Levinson and Warren Mears should have made more appearances in Buffy season 5 if they were going to be major villains in season 6. I didn’t want you growing used to them because their return was supposed to be a bit of a surprise, which it seems to have been. As far as the characters within the story, they had no reason to remain in the U.S. They’re essentially mercenary vampires who came in to do a job. They did it successfully, got paid, and left. The reason for their return after a prolonged absence will be explained should I write season 2. I may explore your idea of bringing on other writers, but I doubt it’ll work. Most writers I’d trust to carry out my story are pretty busy with their own stuff. Also, coordinating stories with others would probably be as time consuming as writing my own stuff. I already have the first two chapters of next season down. If I get to about five, I’ll probably start posting. Thanks for reading. Thanks for reviewing. Thanks for your interest in a season 2. |
| crayonbreaky gal |
10/10/04 - 02:34AM |
22: Episode 22: You Call This a Finale? |
Signed |
Good as always. I like it that Dawn has gained lots of witchy power. And that Buffy is back with the living. I hope that Angel gets through to Connor. And that Giles helps Dana. Keep on with the Faith/Spike storyline. It is very interesting. They are both hurting right now. Good choice.
Author's Response: Thanks for the review and thanks for reading. I'm glad you like Faith and Spike. If I do a second season, I'm hoping to have plenty of *original* Slayer/ Vamp. Connor will be back with occasional appearances by Angel. |
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