ext_29998 ([identity profile] sparrow2000.livejournal.com) wrote in [community profile] buffyversetop52018-10-27 10:58 am

5 Great 2018 Summer of Giles fics

Since we're on our flash forward, I'll start with some recs from one of my favourite annual communities - [livejournal.com profile] summer_of_giles

Giles/Cordelia is not a pairing that I automatically think about, but I’m always surprised how well it can work if done well and in [livejournal.com profile] aadler’s Better Left Unspoken, it is done very, very well. These are snapshots of Giles and Cordelia through the Sunnydale High years and beyond in a way that makes me both laugh out loud, and made my heart hurt. This is good stuff.


[livejournal.com profile] il_mio_capitano always gives good Giles, in addition to being an awesome mod to the community. Her offering this year was Sands of Time. Giles is at a beach party with a lot of familiar faces – and something keeps nagging him. This is bittersweet in the best possible way.

It’s always fun when someone plays with a character that you don’t give much thought to. That’s what [livejournal.com profile] aaronlisa does in Paying Respects. Just before Giles heads for the Hellmouth for the first time he pays a visit to his mother. It’s really interesting to get an AU backstory to her – we come across Giles’ father so often in fic, but I don’t know that I’ve ever come across a characterisation of his mother – and now I have…

I always enjoy a well done dialogue fic – not least, because I tend to start with dialogue with my own stuff. Retirement Plans by [livejournal.com profile] quaggy is a nice moment between Giles and Buffy as he starts to put his retirement plans in place. The thing is, Buffy has plans of her own and Giles really doesn’t have a hope against a determined slayer.

Last, but not least is Jerusalem by DHW. This is young Giles and his father and it’s beautifully done and wonderfully unexpected. I won't say any more because reading it is like unwrapping a present. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it.