buffyversetop5 | Entries tagged with cat: btvs s6

sparrow2000

I think we're now in the Flash Forward part of the season to highlight fanworks from 2023. So to that end here's my usual round up of five fics that caught my eye at this year's

summer_of_giles. I love that the great and venerable SoG is still active and it gives me great joy to participate every year.

Only the Worthy by

il_mio_capitano is a great piece of Giles, Spike snark, in which our heroes try to work out how to release a sacred dagger from the hands of a mummy without triggering the curse. Don’t you hate it when you’re in that position? This is loads of fun and Giles and Spike bitching about their lot in life is gold.

( More Giles love this way... )

sparrow2000

Oh goodness, here I am again. This time, here are five great fics from yesteryear with rare or rare(ish) pairings.

Knocking on Heaven’s Door by estepheia is Spike/Andrew, not a pairing that springs readily to mind. This is a what if when Spike and Andrew are on a mission at the end of S7. There may be tequila involved and Andrew has things he wants to do before he dies.

( More goodness this way... )

thenewbuzwuzz

I guess my Spike fan is showing. Three of these are Spike-centric.

Lines Composed a Few Miles Above the Cheers & Beers Poetry Reading by JayeMaru (Spike, G)
I like how Spike is both a reader of poetry and a poet in this work and how his life experience informs his reading of Wordsworth's poem.
( Read more... )

yourlibrarian

Just a reminder that Top 5's 2021 season closes in 9 hours!

Take Care of the Rest by Hannah. There's something soft and kind about this look at how Buffy's life might have been a bit better had she taken a job at a local funeral home when first coming to Sunnydale.

( Read more... )

double_dutchess

It's great to see that so many Top Fives have been posted already, but checking them out will have to wait. First I have to get my own posted, starting with these great covers of OMWF songs:

1. I'll Never Tell by Alexandre Iannuzzi. Doing Xander and Anya's duet with himself in a really, really fun way! Definitely needs more viewers.

2. Walk Through the Fire by by Koyah Stone. Awesome and very atmospheric rendition of my favourite OMWF song.

3. Under Your Spell by the Melbourne Gay and Lesbian Choir's Soprano section. A beautiful harmony of voices.

4. Under your Spell by Sparkles of Disney. Another lovely version of Tara's song. Also, tulips!

5. Going Through The Motions by The Other Realm. Posted only today, with perfect timing to complete the Top 5, but definitely not just added for filler. Includes a great reenactment of the scene from OMWF!

thenewbuzwuzz

Tumblr user snakeliciousbaby's artwork often explores interesting, unsettling concepts, and its tag commentary tends to turn into meta. I particularly enjoy the insightful and compassionate takes on Xander and the Scoobies.
All linked art is worksafe, but there can be profanity in the tags, some of which I quote under the cut.

Hands Heart and Soul (Xander, Willow, Buffy). Backup link.
#what does it mean to be 3 parts of a whole. what does it mean to be nothing more than a part
( Read more... )

dragonyphoenix

Forging Bonds: What can I say? I'm a sucker for a story that will make me believe an unusual pairing. This is Tara/Faith and it set in a universe where everyone's either a dom, sub, or switch. Tara's the dom.
Bread: uses bread as a metaphor for Willow and Tara's relationship. It's just so heartwarming and beautiful.
The Lamb: Tara works in a hospice helping people cross over when it's their time. Willow, last of the Scoobies, is brought in as a coma patient.
Sapling: Willow, Faith, and three Jewish holidays.
From Beneath You It Devours: Eee, a crossover with the Carmilla web series!

dragonyphoenix

Click the links to see the sources:

Sketch of Faith the Vampire Slayer by littleotter73
( Read more... )

yourlibrarian

1) Fiction Banners by teragramm. I don't tend to see these very often anymore unless a Big Bang fic is involved. I liked the sleek yet different look in these two works.

2) And I Won't Feel a Thing (The Rinse and Repeat Remix) by SegaBarrett. " Billy has everything he ever wanted." I like the fact that Billy having what he wanted doesn't change who he is, it's just the same steps to different music.

3) Vantage Point (Remix of Heights) by Corina (CorinaLannister). "Spike and Willow go on patrol together with Spike being the powerhouse fighter and Willow helping him out with her telepathic abilities. But who is helping who really?" I read this together with the original story (written last year) and found that it was the final lines in both the original and remix that stuck with me. Spike and Buffy as Heathcliff and Catherine is a little off to me, Angel being rather more Heathcliff-y. But then that says so much about Willow's frame of mind, she should know that. Spike reminds her, but she does tend to forget it.

4) Restoration by circular_infinity. Buffy & Angel's missing scene after her return. Part of what struck me about this story was the way Angel thinks of her with an artist's eye as he sees her again, "Part of her demeanor speaks of grief. It eases as she nears him, but it's still there like a layer of priming on a canvas."

5) Junior Deviants by Aadler. "Not everything fell apart in the last days of Sunnydale. Some things came together." First off, hardly anyone remembers or writes about Dawn's friends in early S7, especially since the show didn't either after the spinoff idea went nowhere. And this one has a nice surprise at the end. Second, so happy to see drabbles on AO3 since very few of them end up there!

Lastly, I didn't include this in my list because it's commercial not fannish – which in itself has become a harder thing to tease apart in these last 15 years given people's platforms on YouTube and fannish news outlets, Patreon and even commercializing individual websites. But I did find the concept of this quite entertaining: I've Never Seen "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" So I Watched The Pilot And Finale And Nothing In Between

thenewbuzwuzz

China Girl from Poetry by William Pratt - VERSUS by SPIKE by MissLuci (whole chapter rated R but poem is not sexual or otherwise graphic)
MissLuci wrote a whole multichapter story full of Spike's poems and Buffy's reactions to them!! This poem is about Spike killing Xin Rong, written from the perspective of pre-series soulless Spike. Note that the prose section at the bottom of the chapter is rated R for Spuffy smut.

( Read more... )

thenewbuzwuzz

There has been a ton of Buffy fan music this year. I recommend reading the video descriptions on YouTube as long as you can bear being reminded of the current affairs that inspired some of it. If you cannot bear that today, maybe skip the "Where Do We Go from Here" video -- it could be pretty painful. I also recommend watching the videos, not only listening. The visuals add a lot to the experience.
One of these is not a song originally written for BtVS (though it is part of the Buffy soundtrack, and that's where the singer found it), but the video is so soothing and delightful to me that I couldn't leave it out.

( Read more... )

thewiggins

thenewbuzwuzz is a staple of the online BtVS fandom. She not only participates here each year, but helps run Seasonal Spuffy and the Sunnydale Herald. But one of her greatest contributions to the fandom, in my opinion, is her advocacy for poetry as a fanwork medium. I certainly never would have tried it if it hadn't been for her inspiration. Here are a few of my favorite buzwuzz poems.

The Limericked Adventures of Bob the Hellmouth Cop
This was the poem that started it all for me. It was the winner of a contest on the now sadly defunct Sunnydale Fanfic Club podcast and her episode opened my eyes to the potential of fandom poetry. (Actually, the podcast wound up introducing us both to each other's work, eventually leading to our ongoing beta exchange.)

The poem itself is priceless. Using the limerick format to explore the POV of a clueless Sunnydale cop is just too good. I mean, consider this stanza:
( Read more... )

sparrow2000.livejournal.com

Copper and Moonlight (the Mimi & Rodolfo Remix). This is another one from

nwhepcat because why would you ration yourself when there is quality fic to be had? Willow and Xander tend to Giles after his ordeal with Angelus. (This is a remix of Substitute by

antennapedia which is also worth your time)

( More random lovelies this way... )

petzipellepingo.livejournal.com

In no particular order :

Girl Talk .

rahirah dissects Buffy's love life in fictional format.

Metaphors in Season Six by

elisi.

Fanged Four dynamics revisited by

selenak.

In which I talk about my favourite subject. Lots. - which is Spike and Buffy - by

the_royal_anna.

Season Seven essays by

sylva_rerum, with help from

elisi.

thenewbuzwuzz

Largely by tumblr user impalementation, because I stan.

[Re: transformation and redemption in Angel's and Spike's arcs] by impalementation and left-handed-moth
Excerpt: "transformation and redemption become harder, more interesting problems when you try to solve them with characters that actively resist those narratives."

( Read more... )

snickfic

I had trouble coming up with a theme, since this is literally "two fics I read this year and really loved" + "some other stuff I love." XD Anyway, I hope folks enjoy! I've certainly gotten a lot of enjoyment out of buffyversetop5 over the years. <3

( mix of characters and pairings behind the cut! )

thenewbuzwuzz

...sorted by ascending number of Spike legs. I wasn't planning to make this post, but

yourlibrarian got me thinking about sorting criteria, and then I had to.

0 Spike legs:
the Narwhal!Verse
and as one specific fanwork rec from that verse:

double_dutchess' Narwhal!Spike manips (worksafe)
( Read more... )

sparrow2000.livejournal.com

Yay for the return of

buffyversetop5. Thank you to

petzipellepingo and

yourlibrarian for continuing to host this lovely celebration of our fandom every year.

Since we’re running up to Halloween, here are five stories that make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. This is a mixture of pairings and canon characters.

For All My Pains A World of Sighs by

baudown makes my heart ache at the same time as it gives me chills. This is mainly focused on Spike and his kills and is wonderfully written, and the short section at the end with Xander is haunting and beautiful. This has some slash.

( More fics that make me shiver... )

dragonyphoenix

I'm unsure of exactly when Buffyverse Top 5 ends, so I'm getting this in before work. Indri has written what may well be my favorite Buffy fanfic of all time In the Morning of the Magicians, Giles and Ethan, the electric Kool-Aid funky Satan groove year, in the early seventies. I decided to share stories from her rec list but a lot of the links were dead so I've been looking up stories; I've started posting a list of her recs here if anyone else is interested. I can't say they're the top 5 because I haven't read all the stories in her list yet.

Herself NYC captured captured Spike's darker side, the vampire's indifference for human life, but also something of the poet who cares for something higher, and I'm thinking of the poet where he tells her to run like hell if she sees him again, in Manhattan Nocturne.

( the rest of the stories are dragging me away from the computer, shouting that I'll be late for work if I don't get a move on )

dragonyphoenix

or something close to a white hat anyway! I'm exhausted so this list may be shortish on descriptions but anything I recommend with Ethan in it will be near and dear to my heart.

1. Absent Friends by il mio capitano. Oh, yeah, awesome. I recently asked if anyone could find this story for me. Basically all I'd recalled was the pub crawl based on The World's End and that Ethan was in it. Turns out it features Giles rather than Xander but given how fond I am of Giles and Ethan together, that was hardly a drawback. This one's more white-hatish rather than an out and out white-hat tale.

( the rest of the links are busy putting me too bed )

sparrow2000.livejournal.com

Since we’re coming up on Halloween, I thought I'd get in the mood with a list of fics that make me shiver. Here’s five that do the job nicely, or in some cases, not so nicely.

This is not a love story by

raynejelly is bleak in the best way - this is the Spike, Xander, Angel scene in School Hard with a twist.

( For more shivers... )

gracenm.livejournal.com

There aren't a lot of people still writing and reading Buffy/Angel fic these days, but the ones still active are very dear to my heart. Here are five of my favorites from the last 12 months:

( Read more... )

sparrow2000.livejournal.com

Here are five longer fics from

summer_of_giles I really enjoyed.

Second Sight by

il_mio_capitano finds our intrepid Watcher thrown back to his 21 year old self, two months before Eyhgon. This isn’t about the Eyhgon incident, but it is about choices. I really liked the portrayal of Giles’ father in this fic, and his grandmother is wonderful - just remember to comb your hair and wash behind your ears before you meet her.

( More Gilesian goodness... )

petzipellepingo

More classic meta posts, in no particular order :

1. Meta on the opening credits by

stormwreath.

2. Meta on Angel's role in School Hard by

elisi.

3. The Supernatural/Buffy cage match by

yourlibrarian.

4. Buffy came back wrong: Wrecked, Gone, and Doublemeat Palace by

gabrielleabelle.

5. Buffy and Spike are effulgent love by

angearia.

petzipellepingo.livejournal.com

An assortment of favorite things, in no particular order :

Spike's Story for Dummies by

james_translate.

"My hat has a cow." by

molly_may.

Buffy's Four Loves by

rahirah.

The Art Project by

st_salieri.

Drusilla family essay by

bookishwench.

And a bonus item : How to Write a Lousy Sex Scene Handout.

dragonyphoenix

I struggled to get this list down to five entries. So many authors have inserted incredible characters into the Buffyverse. I hope you enjoy these five ... although actually there are more than five characters because the last story has a number of originals.

Title: Business as Usual
Creator’s Name: Lilachigh
Agnes Pringle, yes! A sweet middle-aged spinster with a tea shop in an English cathedral city who was Turned on a trip to America, sets up shop in Sunnyvale. She has a bit of a thing for Spike. Don’t we all.

( The rest of the stories are staring out the window, glad the weather if finally seasonable but also wishing it were warmer. )

sparrow2000.livejournal.com

I love

buffyversetop5 classic recs. It's a great time to rootle around in the vault and rediscover fics that got me hooked on fandom way, way back in the day. As we're coming up to Halloween, here are five fics that make me shiver.

Three Ring by

brutti_ma_buoni finds Xander and Willow on a school trip to a less than normal circus. There aren’t any clowns in this fic, but if there were, I’m damn sure they’d be scary. This story always makes me want to go back and read Something Wicked This Way Comes. This is Gen.

( Follow the trail of breadcrumbs to the gingerbread house... )

lusciousxander.livejournal.com

The Final Cut by

aadler: Dru is going after Jenny and Angelus is playing taunt the watcher. It’s Jenny, Giles, Ethan and Xander on a wicked adventure set in S2 after Angel lost his soul.
( Read more... )

petzipellepingo.livejournal.com

In no particular order :
( Read more... )

sparrow2000.livejournal.com

I did my list of comedy fics that made me giggle in 2016, so here now is a list of five pretty angsty dramatic fics that made me go wow, I wish I’d written that.

First up is

aadler’s There Ought to be Clowns (The Lying Eyes Remix). Buffy makes Xander a ‘no strings’ offer and Xander accepts. Funny how it becomes impossible to say what you really want once you’ve got what you asked for. I really loved the complicated Buffy characterisation in this story – it’s the road not taken, but feels very true to her character. And the use of repetition is an especially effective bell in her brain. Really good stuff.

( Drops breadcrumbs to more lovely slices of storytelling… )

rbfvid.livejournal.com

Five favorite scary stories. Just keep in mind that some of these go with major character death warning. Won't tell which ones, because I'm evil like that. And because spoilers.

Truly and Forever by

thuviaptarth. What if Willow managed to resurrect Tara? Rated NC-17, and not exactly for the smut.

( Read more... )

yourlibrarian

Dawn Meets Cordy by onegirlinalltheworld. So this isn't a fic about pre-series Dawn but I thought it was a nifty idea about how Dawn and Cordelia might have bonded in S2.

( Read more... )

petzipellepingo.livejournal.com

As always, in no particular order :
( Read more... )

petzipellepingo.livejournal.com

In no particular order :
( Read more... )

dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com

Open on Sunday hasn’t had a post since July. As a memorial, I found five great - I went through a bunch but I didn’t read them all - drabbles written for an Open on Sunday prompt.

1.

punch_kicker15’s If You Are What You Say You Are because I’m a sucker for a happy ending.

2.

romanyg’s Woman of Property because I’m also a sucker for angst

3.

beer_good_foamy’s Advant Gardener because no one writes humor like Beer Good Foamy

4.

baudown’s Parlour Games because awesome Spander

5.

nihilistbear’s Kiss from “Once More With Feeling” because ouch!

And while I’m here, the first prompt since April has recently been posted at Giles Shorts. Go. Write.

dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com

1. Brace Yourself by Enigmatic Blue. Spike / Buffy. A rewrite of season 6 where Buffy more easily accepts her attraction to Spike. A ritual to free Spike of a curse has unexpected consequences. And, given this category, I’m pretty sure you know what those consequences are. *grin*

( the rest of the recs listened to sappy 80s love songs and are balling their eyes out )

rbfvid.livejournal.com

Five classic Angel/Spike stories, arranged from shortest to longest.

Victrola by

hello_spikey. William, Angelus and that terrible modern music.

( Read more... )

rbfvid.livejournal.com

Some classic Mr. Gordo stories, because he deserves it (and also because

red_satin_doll requested =)

Fuzzy Thoughts (+ additional AO3 link) by

deird1. Mr Gordo and Mr Pointy do not get along very well. G.

( Read more... )

petzipellepingo.livejournal.com

I'd post the actual wallpapers but Photobucket is acting up again "grumbles" so... I'll just have to point them out :
( Read more... )

dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com

I'd love to say I'm so nice that I deliberately fulfilled

red_satin_doll's request, but I just happend to have the same idea. Still, here you go.

1. A Nice Little Business by Lilachigh - Alice Pringle. Sounds like an OC, doesn’t she, but no, technically she fits this category. In the author’s words: the vampire lady referred to by Spike in The Replacement, when, sarcastically, he tells the Scoobies that he has been having a cup of tea with the lady who runs a tea-stall in the local garbage dump.
( The rest of the recs went to The Bronze for Disco Night )

rbfvid.livejournal.com

Some of my favorite past year's long fic, arranged from shortest to longest.

signifying nothing by

kwritten (Dawn-centric, PG-13, ~31 000 words). Season six character study. After her sister's death and resurrection, Dawn grapples with her own humanity and tenuous grasp on reality; as her depression swings her from reckless to numb, she reaches out to new friends for help and a new perspective.
( Read more... )

baudown.livejournal.com

Yes, I know that everything

sparrow2000 writes is excellent, but here are my top five picks from the past year:

1. No Lodging is probably me favorite fic of the year. It's tragic and haunting, and the language and imagery just stayed with me.

2. Words to Live By is a fascinating and original look at Xander in one of his darker moments.

3. One of These Days is a little slice of Giles' and Ethan's history. It's now head canon for me.

4. Pushing Limits is Xander/Lindsey pre-slash. Xander's living for the moment. At least, for the moment.

5. Distraction is Spike/Xander. A slice of their life together, and the voices are absolutely perfect.

rbfvid.livejournal.com

Some favorite Dawn and Spike shortfic of the past year. Stories arranged from shortest to longest.

Pretty Little Liars by

shapinglight (Dawn & Spike, PG). Post-Gift ficlet. Spike notices one thing, at which Dawn is much better than him. (And it's not applying black nail polish.)

( Read more... )

rbfvid.livejournal.com

Some of my favorite Tara-centric shortfic of the past year, arranged from shortest to longest.

Same Mistakes by

aliceinkinkland (Buffy/Tara, PG-13). Inspired by Whedon quote, where he admitted considering having the Powers That Be grant Buffy a wish at the end of Chosen to bring Tara back.
As you already guessed from the title, it's not a fluffy story, and a lot of painfully accurate parallels are made.

( Read more... )

rbfvid.livejournal.com

Or, it's "Buffy-centric angsty shortfic", to be more specific. Stories arranged from longest to shortest.

Third Wheel by

shapinglight aka Glassdarkly (Angel/Buffy & Darla, PG-13). Set during 'Surprise', this is a slightly AU BtVS season 2, in which Ethan Rayne's costume spell in Halloween had rather different consequences.
I'm a sucker for relationship studies where main focus is not romance per se but Buffy's development, and this one absolutely nails it.

( Read more... )

draconin.livejournal.com

Since people seemed quite taken with the first set here are five more, probably better known than the first set.

Living History by LizMarcs
Rating: PG, Worksafe
Some people have come from a place far, far away and a time far, far ahead to ask for help on an urgent matter. The time they were aiming for? February 2008. The place? Moscow. The problem? Somehow they've ended up in Cleveland, September 2003. And that’s just the beginning of the trouble; they seem to be descendants of the Scoobies and are determined not to change the past... but they haven't reckoned with Xander. Superbly written with a fascinating plot, some of the most beautifully crafted OCs I've ever seen and a wonderful portrayal of Xander and Faith. Very highly recommended!

( Read more... )

lusciousxander.livejournal.com

The Lion Laying Down With The Lambness Of Xander And Larry by

reremouse: Xander/Larry. What I'd pay to see the conclusion to this one? The Xander voice is perfection. The whole atmosphere is funny and witty and crazy. Xander and Larry in their most boy high school romance glory.

( Read more... )

draconin.livejournal.com

The HP 'verse is the commonest one for fics where the author re-writes history by inserting a character (internal or external) who knows what's supposed to happen and is determined to change things but the Buffy 'verse has its examples too...

1. Martian Manhunter by Mediancat
Rating: PG, Worksafe
As the result of a bet that we spend most of the story waiting to find out the nature of, Veronica Mars is in the Buffyverse, knowing what's coming and unable to do anything about it... or can she? If you're familiar with mediancat's work then you're probably already anticipating wonderful writing. If you're a fan of the Veronica Mars series then look no further: this is for you! :-)

( Read more... )

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What's the Sitch

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2) Search our archives through tags, the search box above, or the Visit the Library link.
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Buffyverse Top 5 of the Year

Entries tagged with cat: btvs s6

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