5 Fics Featuring AtS Female Characters (Because They Rock)

[clawofcat.livejournal.com]

Believe it or not, some of my favorite AtS characters were actually the minor female characters that were introduced on the show. Kate, Lilah, Justine and Gwen (who sadly is not represented in this list) were all so against type in comparison to Joss's usually kick ass or tragically human (and easily disposable) ladies. Below are a number of excellent fics that highlight these interesting women, both their strengths and their weaknesses. If anyone knows of other great minor AtS female character fics, I'd love it if you dropped some links in the comments.

1. No Oceans Left by Thuvia Ptarth
Justine//Wesley, R, AtS Season 4
Summary: Even when the bars are gone, she's still a prisoner.

Review: This fic is a wonderful psychological character study into the mind of Justine during and after her captivity. Her traumas and twisted motivations are explored with knife edge precision. It's dark, gritty, seedy and real and stays very true to the noir tone of the series itself. Wesley's characterization is also out of this world. Justine may be broken, but she made sure that Wesley would be too as soon as she put the blade to his throat.

2. Window of Opportunity by fox1013
Lilah/Justine, NC-17, Ats Season 3/4
Summary: Wes may have a girl locked up in the closet, but Lilah's got the keys.

Review: "Lilah Morgan: Master of the Power Play" should be the tagline of this excellently written and characterized fic. Lilah will work her way up the corporate ladder at all costs: sleeping with the enemy gives her a leg up, insider knowledge about his bound captivate earns her brownie points in Wolfram & Hart office's pool. The biting exchanges and the sexual tension that colors the jabs of these women make for an exciting read. Check your morals at the door. 

3. Mind Fuck by ash_carpenter
Fred/Angelus, NC-17, AtS Season 4
Summary: Angelus is out of his cage and out for blood. 

Review: Angelus might be big and bad, but as Ash shows here, Fred can give as good as she gets. The psychological warfare between them is smartly written, scathing, and leaves you wondering throughout the fic who really has the upper hand. The soup of aggression, strength, fear, and arousal that they trade back and forth comes together perfectly to create a really electric dynamic. If only the show writers had taken a page out of Ash's book and actually given us an Angelus that lived up to his horrible reputation. 

4. Like Filth, Like A Star by Glossing
Darla/Nina, R, AU AtS Season 5
Summary: In an AU version of AtS where Darla is the souled vampire heading up Evil Inc., Nina struggles to understand the monster inside her and her monstrous benefactor.

Review: Glossing is an amazing classic BtVS writer. I encourage you all to check out her site. She's written many, many pairings. What I like so much about this fic is the premise - what if there were major gender reversals in Ats? Nina and Darla are both very much true to their canon selves despite the aternate reality and we learn interesting things about both of them through Nina's limited POV. I demand more Nina and Darla fic, but this is certainly a good place to start.  

5. Like Drowning by girlpire
Angel/Kate, NC-17, post-NFA
Summary: Kate and Angel run into each other while tracking the same demon.

Review: I love Kate, therefore I love this fic. Steamy and true to character, this fic resolves some of the UST that was left behind after Kate's rapid departure from the show. Despite an awkward situation, Angel is ever the gentleman when they both find themselves trapped in a steam room with a dangerous demon on the other side of the door. Their awkward encounter and uneasiness with each other as they become reaquainted after so many years apart is charming and exactly how I would picture it.

**Since there is so little Angel/Kate fic out there, I also want to throw in one of my own stories called Call it Closure for those interested in the pairing. It resolves the loose ends from the episode "Epiphany."

Comments

[velvetwhip.livejournal.com]

Mind Fuck is such a terrific story!


Gabrielle

[clawofcat.livejournal.com]

Absolutely. I particularly have to agree since it was written for me!

[yourlibrarian]

Wow, Lilah/Justine makes a lot of sense and yet I don't think I've ever seen the pairing. New tag!

[clawofcat.livejournal.com]

I've seen the pairing a few times here and there, but certainly nothing that would constitute even a respectable amount. It really works for me in theory and it just flat out works in that fic, I think.

Shall we tally up how many new tags I've generated this round? It seems it's become my inadvertant goal at this comm!

[shapinglight]

The Glossing one sounds fascinating. Thanks for the links.

[clawofcat.livejournal.com]

It's really beautifully written as is all her work. Snoop around her site a bit. She's written a ton of slash and was very prolific.

[shapinglight]

I have read some of her stuff. Some of the pairings don't interest me much - anything featuring Oz, for instance - but I do like the idea of Darla in Angel's place a lot. Must check that one out.

[thuviaptarth.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the rec!

Viola wrote a bunch of gorgeous Justine stories (http://archive.shriftweb.org/cgi-bin/search.cgi?Author=Viola&SortBy=3&SortOrder=1&NumToList=0).

[clawofcat.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! I was very glad to stumble across your site a few months ago. And thanks for the Justine recs. There's not much of her out there, so I really look forward tucking into these.