buffyversetop5 | Entries tagged with cat: postseries

For me the year has been all about starting up our shiny new website, sunnydaleafterdark.com. Lots of work went into it from a dedicated team, and now it holds hundreds of fics, art and other cool things.

Many folks have reposted from elsewhere, but some of the material is exclusive to the site, so that's the only place you'll find it. Here are five stories worth the reading:

Not a Monster [NC-17] by Grief Counselling (formerly dampersandspoons) and Dusty - still a WIP but lots of chapters there already. Two outstanding writers at the peak of their form.

I Hear a Very Gentle Sound [R] by VioletMoon - a lovely, touching one-shot set in S6.

PS: Not A Date![R] by VeroNyxK84
S7 Spike gives Buffy care and support when she really needs it. Very sweet.

Aeternum in Anno [NC-17] by Chelle shortish but good as Buffy lives the year after Spike went up in flames.

Daisy in the Dark [PG-13] by Dusty. Spike can't stop visiting Buffy's grave. He meets someone else mourning a person they cared for.

sparrow2000

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... )

dragonyphoenix

These are ones I had to rec as I love them so but didn't fit into any categories. And please pardon my lack of "why this is so great" comments. Other people can write whole paragraphs on that topic. Me? I'm more along the lines of "I really like it."

Ten Things That Never Happened in the Buffy Fandom – The spell that created Dawn didn’t effect just the tv show.
Mr Spike: Spike’s visits to the children’s ward of the hospital.
Business as Usual: From the summary: What if Spike had been telling the truth when he made his sarcastic remark about visiting a nice tea-room at the garbage dump during Season 5’s The Replacement? Eeee! I adore Agnes Pringle.
Magpie: Strange deaths and Xander is somehow a focus. The writing is incredibly beautiful.
Radio Silence – From the summary: The Gentlemen drop by Night Vale. This poses something of a problem for a radio host who depends on his voice to communicate. Beer good foamy always writes excellent stories.

thenewbuzwuzz

Happy Ace Week, folks!

Asexual!Oz in "You're Too Picky, Man": An Ace Reading of Oz's Character Arc in BTVS by Coyote (osteophage)
This is really well thought out, and I can't believe I missed this reading until Coyote spelled it out for me in an essay. Honestly, there's no going back for me--the way I see Oz is changed forever.

( 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

Asylum: Buffy’s never left the mental institution and it’s a horror movie / series. I would watch the shit out of this.
Ripper Opening Titles: If Ripper's backstory were a spinoff. Oh yeah, loved this video for years now.
Ripper Trailer: post canon; ooh, looks awesome but might be too scary for little old me.
Illyria Opening Credits: I just found this video this evening. It's so good.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: School Reunion: Asks the question what would Buffy look like if it came back now? It would look freaking awesome.

yourlibrarian

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... )

double_dutchess

I don't usually read WIPs, but I am making an exception for these ones, because they're just so good or because I know they're going to be good. I may be cheating a bit here, as several of the WIPs in this list were not started in 2020, but since they all got updated this year I think it still counts. To compensate, two of them are REALLY recent.

( Read more... )

petzipellepingo.livejournal.com

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

petzipellepingo.livejournal.com

Stories I love, in no particular order :

"Flight to Egypt" by

powerofthebook. A scene from Not Fade Away.

"Standoff" by

powerofthebook. Spike/Dawn

Death is no gift by

kaymickbee. Giles reflects

Postcards from the end by

renee2939. The gang post-"Chosen"

Nightswimming by

calove. Spike, Buffy and a swimming pool.

thenewbuzwuzz

Two well-researched products of international collaboration, two stories by people tapping into their own local lore, and a delightful joke oneshot.

(1) A taniwha from New Zealand, in Seek a Desolate Shade by wolf_shadoe a.k.a. Twinkles (Spuffy, NC-17, 23,737 words, complete)
The reason this list exists and the BEST THING EVER, because Twinkles is familiar not only with the folklore but also with its symbolic meanings in existing art and its presence in contemporary everyday life. And there's artwork. And this is thoughtful and magical and epic and fun. [ETA: I did want to mention that Angel is pretty evil in this story. Also, maybe there should be a sadness warning for parts of it... but still very worth reading, I thought.]

( Read more... )

thenewbuzwuzz

The best stories from the Bangel ficathon as selected by a Spuffy shipper, let's go!

Unrequited by aboutafox (2097w, T)
Setting: pre-series (Buffy is not present)
What I liked: in this character study, we get to see Angel from his own POV and from Whistler's, not from Buffy's, and I thought that gave him some lovely depth and maybe made him more consistent with AtS!Angel - the interesting, vulnerable kind of Angel. Also, there was at least one joke that I really loved, and a neat OC.

( Read more... )

deird1

Reaping the Whirlwind (Boom Boom Ba Remix), by Liz_Marcs

Dead Like Me crossover. Dawn Summers dies, and becomes a reaper.

Miss Summers Goes To Washington, by Beer_Good_Foamy

West Wing crossover. The Scoobies turn up for Big Block of Cheese Day.

Father Goose and the Black Knight, by Litmouse

Law and Order: SVU crossover. Xander and Faith are under investigation. (Very long, but definitely worth your time.)

Misunderstandings, by DonSample

Stargate: SG1 crossover. Are they battling aliens, or demons? Hard to say.

A Gift of Ordinary Magic, by Liz_Marcs

Harry Potter crossover. Magic has left the universe, and Xander is miserable.

yourlibrarian

1) Medley of Extemporanea by idyll. Angel and Lindsay meet again in Pittsburgh post-series, and neither of them is the same as they once were. An intriguing concept of how they might come to a middle ground. ( Read more... )

yourlibrarian

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... )

sparrow2000.livejournal.com

I love rare pairings fics. I’m so ingrained in the characters and the ships that I write that it’s a real joy to be challenged when I come across stories that make me take a step back and think wow, the author really makes that pairing work. (Where possible the entries are on A03, but unfortunately not all are available there.)

Slow Learners by

glossing is beautifully achy and bittersweet Devon/Xander. Oz has left and Xander is bereft. Devon provides solace even though Xander isn’t gay. This is gorgeous.

( More pretties under the cut... )

deird1

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.

thenewbuzwuzz

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... )

flowspuffy.livejournal.com

Can you believe that more than twenty years after the show first aired numerous fanfics are still being written and published? It shows that BtVS really has stood the test of time and that the fandom is still alive and kicking. Yay! So from all those wonderful new stories here are five which are short and Spuffy and have been first published in 2019.

( Read more... )

thenewbuzwuzz

Beautiful by zabjade (G, 500 words)
Sweet and happy.
"She supposed she should be at some fancy, stuffy restaurant for her birthday, considering her age, but she loved this little dance club they’d found. They played “retro” (how weird was that, the music of her youth being retro now?) music that you could really dance to, both slow and fast."

Little Sister by Barb C (@rahirah) (T, 34,352 words)
featuring retirement, moisturizer, and adventures. It's been recced here before, by feliciacraft, for action-packed amazingness and technical feats of prose. I also really love the way the conflict is resolved. (And there, I told myself not to rec Barbverse because everyone already knows to read the Barbverse, but two recs snuck through anyway.)
"I'm only fifty-four. Isn't that too young to be old? I mean, God, Jess is only nine! Didn't the baby boomers pass a federal statute against being a grandmother before your own kids are all in their teens?"

( Read more... )

flowspuffy.livejournal.com

Five BtVS crossover fics

This is my first entry for Buffyverse Top 5! These are five BtVS Crossover fics I enjoyed. Hope you will too!

( Read more... )

sparrow2000.livejournal.com

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... ).

frogfarm

Ah, Illyria. What more can one say about the Big Blue Meanie? Love or hate, the only thing that matters is that you must worship.

Before the five, here's an old link I can't currently verify or find any other copies of: "Shards of Night" by eleusis_walks (Angel, R, spoilers through 5x17 "Underneath"). Ends up in a femslashy place, but before that manages to thrill and creepify with a masterful walk through the dreams of what it means to be Illyria, and to have been Fred. First Angel fic ever for this author, so they claim, I can only pray it's far from the last.

Now for the five I could still find:

"Shell Games" by

mabus101. Xander/Illyria, set in Mabus' "Deadwar" universe. Funny, creepy, awkward, and a little bit sexy.

"Lost In the Supermarket" by Lint. Wesley takes Illyria shopping. Humor and disturbing in equal measure, in spades.

"How Tantor and Tarzan Became Friends" by nwhepcat. Xander/Illyria. Meeting a god-king in Home Depot is just the beginning. Set in Hep's shared universe, but stands alone well on its own.

"The Sky Has Claws" by Kyra Cullinan. Fred, Illyria, Willow and Wesley explore each other body and soul. AU from "A Hole In the World". Vaguely post-apocalyptic.

Last and funniest: "A Memorandum From Illyria" by Hello Spikey. In the bowels of Wolfram and Hart, Illyria discovers a newer and more effective way to make her desires known.

Finally a bonus link from myself, Faith the Vampire Slayer 1x06: "The Day After". Faith and Willow explore Los Angeles, looking for clues to the fate of Team Angel. Illyria only makes an appearance at the end, but I think it's a wonderful scene, and makes me regret all over again that I didn't continue this series.

rebcake.livejournal.com

One of our Classic Fandom treasures is

hello_spikey, whose secret identity includes being an award-winning professional speculative fiction writer. Shhhh. We had her first!

While not all of her stories are on AO3 yet, many are. Versatility is her hallmark. I daresay that among her works there is a story with a pairing, a rating, a kink, or a mood to suit the tastes of any Buffyverse fic fan. Here is a brief selection of a very few of my personal favorites, in ascending order of length:

Once More, With Lorne (Teen, 1624 words)
Lorne investigates reports of an entire town bursting into song.

( More, hello_spikey, more! )

petzipellepingo.livejournal.com

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

dragonyphoenix

Snowpuppies Chosen is a series of vignettes, Slayers and their Watchers. They're short and they're all dark, but they're amazing. Note, Snowpuppies lists Mission Accomplished as an inspiration for these stories but here link is broken. You can read it here.
( the rest of the stories are pondering the eternal question: hundreds of channels and noting to watch )

teragramm.livejournal.com

Five Spuffy Stories with human Spike. Some of these are AH and some are with Buffy as the slayer but all have a human Spike. (Some of these stories might be on sites where you have to be a member to access the story.)

1. He Came With the House by Cryptwarmer. All human.
When Buffy rents the house of her favorite celebrity to share a weekend getaway with her sister, she's surprised to find the previous tenant hasn't completely vacated it. Spike turning over a new leaf has sworn off cigarettes and young women but a chance encounter with a determined miracle seeker reminds him that happiness is about more than cutting unhealthy things out of your life; it's about having the bravery to let good things in.

( Read more )

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 )

thenewbuzwuzz

There is lots of excellent new Spuffy fic all the time, too much to rec all that's good or make any objective top list. So here's a semi-random selection of only a few recent favorites, from shortest to longest.

scared of what’s behind and what’s before
by MixSaysRawr (womanaction)
Rated M
( Read more... )

thenewbuzwuzz

Or, Five of the Weirdest Stories I've Had the Pleasure of Reading This Year, and That's Saying Something, Because I Tend to Read as Many Weird Stories as I Can. Each of them has other things going for it, too -- they're not just surreal. Sorted from shortest to longest.

this can't be living now
by nowrunalong
Ship: Fuffy
Rating: M
Words: 6,276
Comment: A Fuffy story based on a dream the author had. It's a coffee-shop AU, but HOW. :)) As a side note, I appreciate how many of the original canon Slayers appear here.
( Read more... )

petzipellepingo.livejournal.com

Five favorite Buffyverse stories, in no particular order :

1. OK, technically this isn't really a story however... The Art Project by

st_salieri.

2. Flight to Egypt , Spike by

powerofthebook.

3. Disenchantment , Spike/Buffy by

herself_nyc.

4. A Cricket From California , Spike/Buffy by

elsaf.

5. Nightswimming , Spike/Buffy by

calove.

sparrow2000.livejournal.com

It's

buffyversetop5 classic recs time again, and to start off my lists this year I wanted to give kudos to authors who can remix - who can take someone else’s story and put a new spin on it, or expand it in an unexpected way. Here are five Remixes that I love.

Walking Higher by Liz Marcs in which Xander visits each of his old friends. This one just kills me and I defy you not to be bawling like a baby by the end. It’s also got a really effective mix of 2nd and 3rd person voice that works beautifully for the narrative. This is a remix of Winter Garden by kirvin.

( More remixes right this way )

thenewbuzwuzz

Mostly Spuffy.

A Touch of Her Style
by myrabeth
(R, 49,339w, complete)
Author's summary: Season 2, but with a different pre-series history. Robin Wood moves to Sunnydale to back up Buffy in her on-going battles with Drusilla. But when Buffy's romance with Angel takes a dark and dangerous turn, Robin determines his assistance won't be enough, and calls in some back up of his own: the old family friend who wears his mother's coat.

( Read more... )

rebcake

Ships, I've had a few, but then again, too few to.... that's a lie. I can ship practically anybody, if the author can show me how it works. In these meaty, angsty, and plot-driven stories, the writers made me believe in an unconventional, non-canon pairing. (And one thruple.) There may not always be a ton of romance, but there are always a ton of feelings. All links to AO3.

Into the Dark Age by Sadhyl (NC17, Buffy/Ethan/Ripper)
Buffy ends up in Black Magic 1970s London, in the company of some familiar — if much younger than she's used to — faces. She hopes to stop them from making a terrible mistake. They hope for something a lot more basic.

( A few more, with vampires... )

punch-kicker15.livejournal.com

Coming in under the wire for this one, so descriptions are going to be on the terse side.

1. They Make Solitude and Call it Peace by Mosca. Buffy/Willow, PG-13 Lovely look at post-Chosen Buffy and Willow. Terrific dialogue between the two on matters both weighty and frivolous.

( The rest after the cut )

sparrow2000.livejournal.com

A couple of years back I did a post of crossovers. I’m a sucker for a well done crossover, and in all these cases you don’t need to know the other fandom for the story to work just fine. Here are five that I really like - BTVS crossed with five separate fandoms.

Thrift by Te and Pares is a crossover with The Sentinel. Blair Sandburg comes to Sunnydale to meet one Rupert Giles, expert in the supernatural. But before he can meet our favourite Watcher he runs into Faith. Let’s say it’s an educational experience for both of them. Be sure to have some tissues ready to mop up the brain tissue dribbling out of your ears.

( Cross here for crossovers... )

dragonyphoenix

1 Bread by Tulipp - AU - After Glory’s defeat, Willow and Tara’s relationship using bread as a metaphor.

( The rest of the recs are desperately trying to recuperate from the pre-Halloween bashes. Oh, wait. That's me. )

michelle-ravel.livejournal.com

So here are my Top 5 Post-Chosen Spuffy Recs that are superclassic (at least a decade old):

1) Disenchantment by Herself. This story made me fall in love with Spuffy! The depiction of a Buffy in her 30s, still alive, kind of ok, but just so lonely in a way she couldn't even articulate. Some angst, but the joy Buffy feels at her unexpected reunion with Spike truly makes me emotional, even upon re-reading. And the sex in this fic is so hot. There is an unfinished sequel I wish she'd finished.

2) The Butterfly Effect by CousinJean. A very beautiful fic where a post-Chosen Buffy travels back in time to Season 2. Buffy and Spike end up connecting in a sort of inevitable, visceral way that show how truly drawn to one another they are, regardless of the timing of their meeting.

3) Pinch Hitter by Dreamweaver. This post-Chosen Buffy gets sent into an alternated dimension early Season 5. Of course she goes to find Spike to bang! Spike is amenable. There is some pretty good biting in this smut if you're into that.

4) Only Time Will Tell by Damperandspoons. I had trouble deciding on which Victorian fic to include on this list, but ended up with this one. It's not totally historically accurate... but Buffy and William are very sweet in this fic, and the ending is satisfying. Enjoy!

5) My Life Closed Twice by Anaross. Being in a post-NFA Spike's poetry class is such a treat. It is worth a read, whether you agree with Anaross' take on Buffyverse lore or not.

Why did I decide to rec only decade-old Post-Chosen fic? No reason, just felt like it! Probaby you have all read these classic fics... they are very popular. But if you haven't, they are an excellent place to start.

dragonyphoenix

1 The delightful Beer Good's By Wise Council You Shall Make Your War - Slayers are supernatural, right?
( The rest of the stories are telling me I should be getting ready for OUTrageous Bingo! )

petzipellepingo.livejournal.com

Stories I love, in no particular order :

"Flight to Egypt" by

powerofthebook. A scene from Not Fade Away.

"Standoff" by

powerofthebook. Spike/Dawn

Death is no gift by

kaymickbee. Giles reflects

Postcards from the end by

renee2939. The gang post-"Chosen"

Nightswimming by

calove. Spike, Buffy and a swimming pool.

sunalso.livejournal.com

Don't fall over dead, I actually do read other pairings occasionally! (AO3 links this time)

( Fics, Not Candy, Sorry! )

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. )

thenewbuzwuzz.livejournal.com

Because nothing takes my mind off things like combinations of crack, fluff, smut, and Spuffy. When I think of every one of these fics, one of the first summaries that come to mind is "everything is happiness, and nothing hurts". None of the stories take themselves too seriously. Most of them are full of smut. All of them make me smile and laugh. (It's late. Sorry! I somehow thought the end time was midnight local.)

1. 10 Ways to Defrost Your Vampire Boyfriend by TerrusDacktellus (DactylGirl,

lady_sybyl). I think the title says it all.

( Read more... )

thenewbuzwuzz.livejournal.com

The Carnivorous Carnival by

bewilde
It's a few chapters in, but he's there. At least in every version of the story that I've read so far.
"This, Me of the Past, is what we in the Future call Pokémon Go. (..) With this Smart Phone, which I have through a clever mixture of magic and technology enabled to speak to servers in the Future, you can catch all of the Pokémon long before anyone else on Earth even has access to the game. You, my younger self, shall be the world’s first True Pokémon Master.”
( Read more... )

Current Mood: kinship

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… )

yourlibrarian

Memorial by Lyr. She heads to L.A. and stays, but doesn't know who she is. I liked this thought of how Buffy's time there might have gone and how she might have found herself again.

( Read more... )

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... )

dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com

Okay, maybe not "we're all mad" but each of these features madness.

1.

nwhepcat's Keeper of the Book is new to me so my comments are from my first read - Wow, the tension is amazing. Half-way through and I still don’t know what’s driving Xander. He tried to kill Cordelia. Giles, and in fact the entire Council in London, are missing. I have no idea what’s going to happen. … And I just finished it. Wow. Wow wow wow. Read this. Now.

( the rest of the recs are taking one step beyond )

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