5 Angel/Dawn Fics of Varying Shippiness
Oct. 31st, 2009 06:44 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
clawofcat.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
buffyversetop5I love rare pairings and this particular pair tends to come about under very specific circumstances - Buffy's death or absence. The wrenching grief that both characters share over a sister and a lover that they've lost is haunting and lovely, as are the inevitable comparisons made between the two Summers girls. The first three fics reach through the numbness of mourning and/or sacrifice to touch the fire beneath. The last two non-shippy fics explore the obstacles of timelessness vs. youth and mortality.
1. Departure by![[profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
only_passenger
NC-17, post-NFA
Summary: A few years post-Chosen, Dawn lives with and cares for a post-traumatic stress disordered Buffy in Rome. When a trip to Los Angeles brings Dawn and Angel face to face, she must decide whose life she is going to live.
Review: It's hard to know what to say about this story other than it's amazing and possibly my favorite one shot ever. Pass writes things real and hard and gritty, and she didn't pull her punches here. This story explores the difficult realities of what it means to be a caretaker to an ill person, the stresses it causes, the sacrifice it takes. Although the fic is really about Dawn's journey as she makes her way in the world, Angel's presence is like the catalyst for a big bang. He's dynamite and Dawn has the fire to make him explode.
2. Something to Keep by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
chrisleeoctaves
R, post-NFA
Summary: Dawn is in a weird place and she isn't alone.
Review: Grief doesn't always mean release, revelations, or closure. This fic shows how bitterness, jealousy and pettiness can co-exist right along with love. The style that Chrislee uses in this story is sharp, terse, and bare. It makes you flinch along with Angel and I find it a really refreshing tool. And even in the barren prose there are these beautiful memories that remind Dawn of the people she cherished, but ultimately can't forgive.
3. All of this Dust bytheantijoss
NC-17, post-NFA
Summary: When everything is broken.
Review: We'd like to believe that despite her hard beginnings Dawn will grow up to be an adjusted, successful adult, but this fic shows the other side of the spectrum: shallow, addicted to drugs, and completely maladjusted. Angel, too, despite his humanity and a happy marriage to Buffy, is disjointed in this story. Without Buffy, without strength, and without purpose he joins Dawn in a slide to rock bottom that only gets harder with his hesitancy. Vampire or not, Angelus, the sins of the past and the urges that came with it still live quite strongly in him.
4. The Dark Side of the Moon bybehrbemine
Dawn, Buffy/Angel, PG, S1 during "Angel"
Summary: Dawn has seen Buffy have boyfriends before, but never one quite like this.
Review: This lovely fic exquisitely channels the insecurities, curiosity, and coming of age challenges that Dawn had to go through growing up on the Hellmouth in the shadow of an anything-but-ordinary sister. Dawn finds herself at odds between clinging to her childish habits and taking a step toward adulthood. It's her interest in Angel and Buffy's ambiguous relationship with him that gives her the push she needs. The fic isn't quite fluff, but it wouldn't matter if it was. Even an angst lover like me found it heartwarming for it realistic and sensitive exploration of early adolescence.
5. Circles byidyll
Dawn & Angel, PG, far future fic
Summary: When a human is faced with immortality, what's a girl to do? Join forces with a vampire, of course.
Review: This fic is chock full of ideas and some very original ideas at that. Years after NFA, Dawn makes the unsettling discovery that she isn't aging and she can't die. Though the prose could use some polishing, Idyll presents some beautiful and heartbreaking possibilities about what Dawn, left only with Angel and The Mission, can do to keep herself sane, grounded, and lead a life that's gone on far beyond the bounds it was meant to. Especially poignant are the creative ways Dawn & Angel remember loved ones and try and find ways to support each other when sanity and the will to go on start to wane.
1. Departure by
only_passengerNC-17, post-NFA
Summary: A few years post-Chosen, Dawn lives with and cares for a post-traumatic stress disordered Buffy in Rome. When a trip to Los Angeles brings Dawn and Angel face to face, she must decide whose life she is going to live.
Review: It's hard to know what to say about this story other than it's amazing and possibly my favorite one shot ever. Pass writes things real and hard and gritty, and she didn't pull her punches here. This story explores the difficult realities of what it means to be a caretaker to an ill person, the stresses it causes, the sacrifice it takes. Although the fic is really about Dawn's journey as she makes her way in the world, Angel's presence is like the catalyst for a big bang. He's dynamite and Dawn has the fire to make him explode.
2. Something to Keep by
chrisleeoctavesR, post-NFA
Summary: Dawn is in a weird place and she isn't alone.
Review: Grief doesn't always mean release, revelations, or closure. This fic shows how bitterness, jealousy and pettiness can co-exist right along with love. The style that Chrislee uses in this story is sharp, terse, and bare. It makes you flinch along with Angel and I find it a really refreshing tool. And even in the barren prose there are these beautiful memories that remind Dawn of the people she cherished, but ultimately can't forgive.
3. All of this Dust by
theantijossNC-17, post-NFA
Summary: When everything is broken.
Review: We'd like to believe that despite her hard beginnings Dawn will grow up to be an adjusted, successful adult, but this fic shows the other side of the spectrum: shallow, addicted to drugs, and completely maladjusted. Angel, too, despite his humanity and a happy marriage to Buffy, is disjointed in this story. Without Buffy, without strength, and without purpose he joins Dawn in a slide to rock bottom that only gets harder with his hesitancy. Vampire or not, Angelus, the sins of the past and the urges that came with it still live quite strongly in him.
4. The Dark Side of the Moon by
behrbemineDawn, Buffy/Angel, PG, S1 during "Angel"
Summary: Dawn has seen Buffy have boyfriends before, but never one quite like this.
Review: This lovely fic exquisitely channels the insecurities, curiosity, and coming of age challenges that Dawn had to go through growing up on the Hellmouth in the shadow of an anything-but-ordinary sister. Dawn finds herself at odds between clinging to her childish habits and taking a step toward adulthood. It's her interest in Angel and Buffy's ambiguous relationship with him that gives her the push she needs. The fic isn't quite fluff, but it wouldn't matter if it was. Even an angst lover like me found it heartwarming for it realistic and sensitive exploration of early adolescence.
5. Circles by
idyllDawn & Angel, PG, far future fic
Summary: When a human is faced with immortality, what's a girl to do? Join forces with a vampire, of course.
Review: This fic is chock full of ideas and some very original ideas at that. Years after NFA, Dawn makes the unsettling discovery that she isn't aging and she can't die. Though the prose could use some polishing, Idyll presents some beautiful and heartbreaking possibilities about what Dawn, left only with Angel and The Mission, can do to keep herself sane, grounded, and lead a life that's gone on far beyond the bounds it was meant to. Especially poignant are the creative ways Dawn & Angel remember loved ones and try and find ways to support each other when sanity and the will to go on start to wane.
