Pretty good. Very annoying that Lindiwi and her watcher/guide got murdered by stupid Boers.

Funny the Fuddu being a gloater, and incompetent at temporal theory.

The coming back to the present thing in the "New Alternate Ending" thing was *weird*....

I like the "Old Original Ending".

I was never 100% happy with the original ending, which of course is why I wrote the alternate ending. it just didn't feel 'right' if you know what I mean.

Just goes to show you can't hit the target dead on everytime.

thanks for reading and reviewing.

all the best,
DaveT.

But this is what really happened...

(My money's on Ms Varying-Shades-of-Blonde with the pointy stick in the graveyard)



EDIT: If you do, you have to call it "I'm sorry, I haven't a clue"

You know that's given me an idea for a challenge/round robin. Write a short story with an ambiguous ending or stop writing before you get to the end then ask people to finish the story.

Might be an interesting exercise.

Cheers,
DaveT.

Well, I'd have to say I like the original ending better. Overall, the stuff in the past was better told than the stuff in the present, but you did a pretty good job of handling a large group of characters. Thanks for sharing the tale.

You know I have to say I agree with you...but only I know the reason why. The moral? I must plan both story threads out properly before I begin!

Thank-you for your comments,

DaveT.

Good

Cheers,
DaveT.

Holy Time Travel Paradox Batman!!!!11!!!=).

Maybe Xander should learn to enjoy this Brave New World, after all, Willow is with him ;).

See ya!

I take it you're a vote for the new ending!

In my mind Xander would eventually recover and everyone would get back to normal...but we'll never know for sure MAW-HA-HA!

thanks as always,
DaveT.

Yikes, that's a nasty alternative. But logical, once you start messing around with time.

Yeah, opinion seems to be split on this, I like the 'new' alternative coz it appeals to my 'dark' side. But I can understand why people still like the original.

Cheers,
DaveT.

I gotta say, I prefer the 'old ending' (just because I don't like to think of Xander having to live the rest of his life knowing that he'd effectively killed Buffy through giving in to a moment's murderous rage -- and I'd have expected him to be up enough on 'Star Trek' and other sci-fi storylines to know that killing someone you don't have to in the past -- no matter how much you might feel they deserve it at the moment -- can lead to major badness in your own present.)

An enjoyable read, over all.

Cheers, I think the lesson to learn here is, becareful when writing time travel.

thanks for your comments,
DaveT.

I like the third ending where Xander knocks the African slayer out of the bullet's path and they both vanish to reappear in the future/present (and everyone reacts to Xander appearing with a half-naked slayer). Oh wait, that's just in my mind. Oh well, I like the original ending better than the 'Sound of Thunder' one where the future is changed. The 2nd ending would lead to an escalation of hostilities vs. the Zulus and change history even more than you've written. The only thing missing is for Xander to look up and see hi-tech zeppelins flying overhead. So by personal preference, I like the first ending (or the third, lol).

Actually I rather like the third ending too...no I won't be writing that!

Cheers,
DaveT.

No, no, no. The old ending was much better. While you managed to write the new one very well the old one is stil far better.

Which was why I left it in.

Cheers,
DaveT.

No, prefered the original ending, it had some questionable elements but not as many as the new ones. If Buffy and Giles did not survive the Master, how did Willow and Xander. Why would they matter enough that Fudo saw them as opposition. Also who did Willow raise that gave the first the chance that necessitated the activation of all the slayers?

I'm going to stop writing stories with time-travel in them! It all gets just too confusing:).

To my way of thinking it wouldn't matter until Xander changed things in 1879...also if we believe (I think it was) the STNG episode...oh gods I can't remember! The one where Worf gets bounced about into different realities. We all make decisions everyday for which there are alternates...so who knows what happened. Maybe Kendra turned up in time to save the situation...Will and Xander could have jumped in a fast car and left town...how much damage did Giles do to the Masters plans before he died...I don't know(actually this is starting to sound like a good idea for a story) Maybe Faith died and had to be brought back...I didn't think it was the place to detail six seasons of alternate history (I could if you like but I'm working on other stuff at the moment). Hope this doesn't sound too...sharp(?), defensive(?) it isn't meant to be.

I just thought it was a better (read darker) ending and a better bit of writing. Anyway thanks for reading and reviewing its good to have peoples opinions.

All the best,
DaveT.

Cheers,
DaveT.

cool

Cheers,
DaveT.

the new ending was very nice. thou being put in the middle of the old one kind of throws it off.

Yeah I know but I wanted to keep the old one coz some people liked that one too...

Cheers,
DaveT.

Very good story. It is a fresh idea to place Xander in South Africa in the past. Great original characters there, especially Lindiwi and Bhekizitha. I liked the one-girl. It saddened me to see her die a meaningless death.

The modern plot didn't keep up. The "Big Bad" really made a grave blunder which he should have been aware of after over a century of planning his revenge. At least it allowed you to bring your story to a fast end. Still, very good character writing there too.

I enjoyed reading your story. It’s a pity there will not be more stories about Lindiwi.

Thank-you very much for your review.

I think I've learnt something from writing this this story...always check your plotlines through with someoneBEFORE you start writing!

Glad you liked it,

Cheers,
DaveT

It was a very good and well written story and I hope you will get inspired to write more Xander in the past stories.

::Feeds the plot bunny::


#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#
The most beautiful thing we can experience
is the mysterious; It is the source of all
true art and science
- Albert Einstein
#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#

This was in fact my first attempt at writing Xander as the main POV character; so far no ones complained (I think) so I must have got him about right, I hope.

More Xander in the past stories? It is a thought and I've an idea for a past xover with Xander as the main character. Until then he'll just start to take a bigger part in my other stories and we'll see where that leads us.

Thank-you for you kind review,
DaveT.

I have always enjoyed the stories you write, especially the Seattle Slayers series. I did have a concern with this story. Was it just that Xander was in shock after the sudden deaths of his companions that he did nothing to avenge them? The actions of the Boers make sense given their time period and culture, but what of Xander. He rode back to civilization with these two men and did nothing. They would have joked about the killings, talked about the great shots they made. Xander did nothing. I always thought the defining moment for Rupert Giles as a watcher was when he smothered Ben to kill Glory. Slayers are heroes, Watchers are not. Watchers watch their Slayers back. If the slayer had been killed by demons, Xander would jumped in to avenge them. If a gang banger with a gun does it, he shrugs it off and says oh, well? Concern about the law is not an excuse. Given the time period, Xander could have avenged Lindiwi, and no one would have cared. Sorry for the mini-rant. I really do enjoy your stories and await the next update to Slaughtered Lamb.

Thank-you for your thoughtful and interesting review...and if you feel the need to rant, you just rant away!

I am the first to admit that this ending wasn't as good as it should have been, and your review has helped me to see another area were I screwed up! I honestly didn't think about revenge; hopefully Captain Windham dealt with that after Xander disappeared. In fact when you think about it as far as Wyndham's concerned Xander just vanished from his tent maybe those two damn Boers had something to do with it?

However having said that and while I admit that in this case I could have done better, I think there's a few things we need to look at that you've brought up (this isn't a counter-rant more some ideas that came to my mind after I read your review).

Xander isn't Giles, and Giles isn't a typical watcher; he's also Ripper (oh how I wish they'd done the TV series).

The temporal prime directive; bit of Star Trek there but a valid point in this case. What happens if Xander takes out two Boers in 1879? What are the repercussions in the future. Up until then Xander had killed demons and people who had turned into Primals (they were likely to die anyway). But to kill someone who might be the father/grandfather of somebody important...too risky. I'm not saying that this went through Xander's mind but its a good reason for him to hold on to his emotions and do nothing.

Killing people in a military camp is frowned upon, also the Boer guides didn't actually do anything wrong...they were at war with the Zulu, the worst they did was disobey orders and as Irregulars they'd likely just be sent home with no pay!

Finally; shock, poor old Xander has just had his friends killed AND found out he's adrift in time, and DOESN'T KNOW IF HE'S GOING HOME. He may believe that Willow will do her utmost to get him home but he has no guarantee that she will.

OK, as I say I've no excuse for not being up to scratch with this ending, normally I have a good idea how my stories will end this time it didn't come out as well as it might.

Must do better! If you want to e-mail me please do and we can discuss this further.

Slaughtered Lamb...can I just say Wombles'? And I will be checking out the ending most carefully!

All the best,
DaveT.