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5 great 2023 Summer of Giles fics

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 [community profile] 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 [personal profile] 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... )

Top 5 Late 2022 Works

Alone by garnigal. Little look at how Buffy takes stock after Sunnydale disappears.

( 550 ) faith in buffy the vampire slayer by hieroglyph. Part of a project to icon all of her appearances throughout BtVS and Angel.

Read more... )
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Five great 2022 Summer of Giles fics

[community profile] summer_of_giles is always a highlight of my fandom year, both as a writer and a consumer. Here are five fics that really jumped out at me, but with the caveat that as always there is a ton of great stuff that is worth checking out and I'm still way behind with my reading! The SoG DW account has very user friendly tags if you want to go delving back into the archive for goodies from previous years. SoG also has an AO3 account, so that’s another way to get your Giles on.

The Call by pbjellius is a lovely glimpse of pre-Sunnydale Giles who is doing mindless busywork for the Council and dreaming something bigger. And really, if you were a vampire, you don’t want to get between a having a bad day Giles and the pub - just saying!

More Giles goodies this way... )

Top 5 Fics That Are New To Me

These fics may or may not be new, but I've found them in the past year.

Not Another Teen Massacre! by Yellow Caballero - Buffy comes to a Sunnydale where the kids already know how to save themselves, and they just might save her too.

Sunset by The Eclectic Bookworm - "Passions" but Jenny's pregnant.

Ask the Things You Shouldn't Mis0s by Punch Kicker 15 - Willow's spell lets MIss Kitty Fantastico understand human speech. Humans are complicated.

The Girl Who Courted Death by Off Your Bird - I'm giving you the author's summary 'cause it's just that good: Due to a misfortune of genetics, Buffy is never Called as a Slayer. Instead, she grows up in L.A. with a different set of challenges and trials, unaware of the supernatural world. That is, until a chance encounter with the Slayer of Slayers changes her life—and everything afterward—forever.

The Power of Voodoo by Lucid Screamer - Xander, who dressed as the Goblin King for Halloween, is creating a labyrinth in Sunnydale. WiP that's going in a very interesting direction.

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Five short crossover fics

I love a well done crossover and here are five short fics that are lovely examples of that craft. What I really like about all these is that they leave me wishing there was more but also very happy that they all work beautifully just as they are.

Invitation by spikedluv is a lovely bit of madness in which Hawkeye gets an unexpected invitation to an archery competition in Cleveland and is naturally suspicious that something nefarious is afoot. It is, but just not what he expects. This is great fun and melds the Buffy ‘verse and Marvel ‘verse beautifully.

And there's more... )

Top 5 Late 2020 Works

This list became unexpectedly difficult when two of the five recs I had prepped ended up linking to deleted accounts! That seems a high percentage in less than a year?

1) Five People Whose Loan Applications Were Approved At Sunnydale Securities Bank (And One Whose Wasn't) by beer_good_foamy. "So how does Sunnydale… work, exactly? Well, it's a long and complex story of corruption and denial, but let's check in with one of the cogs that make the wheels spin. Remember the loan officer who turned Buffy down in "Flooded"...? Here's his Sunnydale story in six installments, occasionally interacting with the main storyline." The devil is in the details, alright.

Read more... )
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[personal profile] thewiggins2020-10-30 03:20 pm

Top 5 Buffyverse Poems by thenewbuzwuzz

[personal profile] 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... )

Top 5 Crossover and Fusion Mix

Just a reminder to everyone that tomorrow kicks off our 2020 Flashforward Weekend to highlight works since our last session!

Buffy, Dollhouse, Avengers, Firefly, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – I managed to get all of them in :D

1) Buffy the Jedi Knight by sqbr. Movie poster for Buffy the Jedi Knight: The Sith Seduction drawn for thelittlebang. Read more... )

Top 5 Re-Recced Items Found Only on LJ

Or now gone. The loss of Open On Sunday is particularly devastating because it ran for a long time and many drabbles there were recced, but few of them made their way to another space like AO3:

1) Long List of Grievances by [profile] waddis - Heh to Andrew wearing on Spike's very short nerve. Read more... )

Top 5 Classic Recs Re-Recced Edition

Every year I come across content I hadn't seen or read before but I usually am not able to read most of them during Top 5 session itself. But when I get a chance to later, I like to give them an extra thumbs up.

1) Hot Chicks with Superpowers by jess9191. Recced at last year's session, this does a fun job of blending together all the kick gals with kicks from the Whedonverses to Blow by Ke$ha. Entertaining enough to run on repeat. Read more... )
deird1: Faith watching Buffy walk away (Faith and Buffy)
[personal profile] deird12020-10-23 11:51 am

five serious fics that still stick with me

These were some of the first fics that I read, back in about 2008. And I still remember each of them.

You Think She's An Open Book (but you don't know which page to turn to), by Spuffyduds

This is a post-apocalyptic fic about Lorne (still alive) and Fred (long dead). It made me cry.


Mission Accomplished, by Beer_Good_Foamy

Giles, dealing with the aftermath of Buffy's death, and the fact he always knew it was coming.


The Chosen Series, by Snowpuppies

A series of short ficlets, inspired by Mission Accomplished, each featuring a different Watcher.


Lilies, by Snowpuppies

An AU of the end of season 5, with much grief.


I Don't Know Where I'll Be Tonight, But I'll Always Tell You Where I Am, by Spuffyduds

Comparatively light-hearted for this list. Faith and Wes, post-series, becoming friends.

Five Insightful Stories by New Authors on AO3 (2019)

Again, I'm mostly sure these people posted their first Buffyverse work this year, though it might not be the work I'm linking. This set has a lot of Willow and magic, and character studies that I thought were goshdarn excellent.

A Conversation by hereforthegay (Willow & Andrew, G, 659 w)
Willow and Andrew have a conversation in season 7. I am, like the author, not only here for the gay, but also for the other things they have in common and Andrew's tonal range of nearly simultaneous dorkiness and angst.

Read more... )

2019 Recs, Post 2

Buffy, Slaying Vampires Since 1996 by shiruji. I have to quibble about the date since it was either earlier with the movie or the TV debut was in 1997, but a cute icon nonetheless!

All the Children I've Had to Say "Good Bye" To by protoneoromantic. Such a strong finish to this, and a title with such a punch when you know who it's said by.

Comics Buffy by misbegotten. Lovely set of Buffy comics icons. No. 5 is my favorite but the Xander one is also striking.

Night Flight by JolieMariella. Wing AU Spike fanart.

The Ballad of Wishverse Giles by thenewbuzwuzz. Giles POV poem. I'd say "fun" but the episode theme wasn't on the happy side, so I'll just point out that it's clever instead ;)

Five Fun Stories by New Authors on AO3 (2019)

As far as I'm aware, the authors on this list posted their first Buffyverse work this year (though I'm not necessarily linking their first work, and also it might be a one-off in between their works for other fandoms).

Advice to the Lovelorn by rosa_himmelblau (crossover with House, M.D., Spike, Greg House, background House/Wilson)
Dr. House meets Spike, to great comedic effect.

Read more... )

5 Awesome Oz fics

I love Oz, and when he’s written well, it makes me very happy. Here are five fics that do just that…

No Cold and Heat by [livejournal.com profile] idyll makes me tear up every time I read it because it is so damn beautiful - bleak, and sad with a chink of light in the clouds that makes my heart ache. Oz is rescued and now must find himself. There’s a hint of slash at the end, but really this is a story that’s all about Oz.

More Ozness this way... )

5 Random recs - just because...

There is no particular theme here, just five random recs from years gone by.

In Mine Eyes Dazzle by Victoria P (musesfool) Xander visits Angel after the events in Your Welcome. This is short, lovely and makes my heart ache in the best way.

This way to more goodies... ).

Four Fics and a Discussion about Robot Feelings

Feelings felt by robots.

To start off, I thought this discussion about "nonhuman people" went to an interesting place:
Re: Do you think the Buffybot qualified as a person? by buffy-truths, wishiwasmorticia, dreamsofghostsandstars

Read more... )