Five serious-to-dark fics

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

And continuing towards the other end of the spectrum:

snowpuppies remains the queen of dark character insight, and Who Am I? (The Warm Champagne Remix) is no exception. Faith in Buffy's body decides to make good on her suggestion to Spike, and... well. Just look at that punchline.

Here We go Again by dreamincolor sees Faith and Buffy trapped in a Groundhog Day loop. Of course it's up to Buffy to solve it, because this show is about Buffy, and all the other characters exist to further Buffy's story.

Obviously, brutti_ma_buoni needs to be on this list. Welcome Home, Rupert Giles has Giles return to England for debriefing after Buffy's death. And as usual, the Watchers' Council is completely useless, and ... huh? Oh. Right. Yeah. Anyway, there's a ghost.

Clay by etothay is about the Buffybot. The Buffybot is not a joke.

And then the drabble, local_max's The Magicless Bullet which captures the dilemma of post-series Willow in just one sharp sentence.

Comments

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

I'm thrilled you included "Who am I?" on this list - I wanted to rec that one but haven't had the chance - again, bless you sir. That is the BEST WAY-episodic fanfic I've read, bar none. (it's snowpuppies, are we surprised? we are not.) Brilliant, brilliant brilliant take on an-already great episode.

And the rest are, once again, new to me. I can't wait to read "Clay." I think mabus101's (mete)psychosis is the only other truly serious Buffybot story I've come across and she's such a RICH character and symbol, particularly given the minimal screentime.

I can't wait to read all of these actually. Awesome lists!

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

mabus101's fic probably breaks the mold a bit on Buffybot fic. But I like how elegiac "Clay" is; it's so nice to see the Buffybot get treated as an actual character rather than just a (literally) throwaway gag.

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

The word "elegiac" is always music to my ears as a description.

And Mabus's fic doesn't just break the mold is smashes it (and my heart) and then grinds it into a very fine powder before I even realize what's happened.

the Buffybot get treated as an actual character rather than just a (literally) throwaway gag.

ALL THIS.

When I think of Buffybot it's not so much about the comedy. "It's not "ooh so cute with Spike" or "Isn't that funny" so much as, this is really creepy and sad and the resonances are amazing: With Ted and Adam as a "constructed" or fake human; with Dawn as someone created by others as a specific tool or with a purpose and to a lesser extent, the Slayers as lanoyee reminded me once. With Buffy as the version of "herself" as girl or Slayer that everyone (the characters and fandom) want her to be for them; The ability to self-actualize or possess true autonomy always out of reach.

The darker implications were always there mostly under the surface (in Intervention at least), but it rises to the top like cream in Bargaining - how does it get missed so often?....ok, stopping now.

[velvetwhip.livejournal.com]

It's not a post about excellence without Snowy, now is it?


Gabrielle

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

It's not a post about excellence without Snowy, now is it?

PREACH IT!

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

It really isn't.

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

Oh good, another dark list. Thanks for posting.

[kikimay]

I love dark fics. I'm going to read them.

[snogged.livejournal.com]

That's a great list! I adore snowpuppies and "Who Am I?" is a marvelous fanfic!

[yourlibrarian]

Aw to Clay :( Good list!