Paradoqz: Vagabonds and Sinners Unrepentant

Wow. Well, color me blown the fuck away.

This was just... a wild, dark, utterly in character ride through the minds of Willow
and Spike as they make their separate ways through summer's freakish and
cruel end.

Ruthlessly sharp and original and impossible to stop reading.

And I will *kill* Paradoqz if a sequel isn't forthcoming.

Have a quote:

She wished Tara was here. She would know exactly what to say. Or maybe
not say and just pull her closer and smile and kiss her and name the stars for
her. And everything would be all right with the world. Because it had Tara in it.

She known exactly when her happiest day was. Not many people can say  the
same. But she can.  She remembers the exact minute, the exact second.

The sun was so bright and it was falling on her hair and her face seemed
golden as she turned to Willow.

"I know exactly what they see in me. They see you. "

She was truly happy then, there in that instant she was. Was.

And Tara was smiling at her and all around her there was a sickly yellow trail
of the memory spell.

~

*shiver*

As you can see, there are one or two typos here and there, but nothing to worry
about. Read. Read, read, read.

*

Gunbunny: Black As A Lifestyle Choice

Oooooh.

I *do* love a writer that can throw people together in a gritty world and make
it all *work*.

This was lovely, just moments out of a normal/abnormal life between shieldbrothers.
Or brother and sister, as it were. Mmm. Faith and Wesley as they *really* work.

Have a quote:

Wes pulls out a flyer from a pocket. "Heard of this?" The flyer's advertising a
club night on the other side of the river.

"Yeah, I seen the smaller versions tacked up on poles.  They're not being real
subtle about it, are they?  All you can eat buffet, stupid goths the main meal."

"Look closer.  See anything different about it?"

"I -" Faith frowns, studies it.  Hanging around Wes rubs off on you.  He makes
you learn things, look for the details.  Different from your usual watcher/slayer
deal, but most watchers didn't spend a few years in the detective agency
business.  Most slayers don't spend a few years in prison, either, time off
because half the prison got massacred by a coterie of demons that regarded
a bunch of incarcerated women as an all-you-can-munch buffet.  Wes... well,
they kind of got thrown together.  Too many bad memories in the US for
them to stay.  Tilts the paper sideways.  Something in the pattern... "Fuck."

"Exactly my thoughts."

She traces the lines of the glyphs entwined in the artwork.  A little like the old
thieves' sign Wes showed her - it's still used in some places - and a little like
the glyphs they used in Blade.  A vampire film Faith really gets.  No angst, just
one long fight.  Sometimes the media gets a little bit right, but you can never
tell whether it's by sheer dumb luck or someone knows a bit and is desperately
trying to teach, or flaunt it.  "The goth thing's a cover, right?  It's a call.  But what
for?"

"Unfortunately, they were inconsiderate enough not to include that information in
the flyer." Wes replies dryly.

~

Just lovely.

Man, I want more of this.

*

Jim Loats: The Gang of Four

So I may have mentioned something about being on the hunt for good, dark,
freaky AUs... *g*

Yeah. This is it. This is the stuff, right here.

The author's summary is simple: What if "The Wish" weren't Anya's first time meddling
in Sunnydale?

But the execution... God. The things we wish for and what we get in return. The way
things could have been and the way things are and the way some things never
change, no matter what. This story will stay with you.

*

Benaresq: Slow

Eeeeek.

Dark, dark, and *painful* ride through Xander's mind as he grows up, watching
Willow for cues and clues.

The style here was fabulously inventive, moving from age to age smoothly without
once losing touch with the essential Xander-voice. Ben could've gone for stereotypical
stream of consciousness here. She didn't.

The result? Much coolness. And *hurt*.

Woobie.

*

Gulessable: Lies To Children

This story is just a ruthlessly clear-eyed and painful look at what would happen if
Willow couldn't quite hold it together, even with everyone's help. The Giles here
is perfect, just perfect. Himself with a few more years, a few more incalculable
losses, and the sort of burden no one should ever have to live with.

And if you'd told me I'd be reccing I Giles/Willow...

Heh.

Well, okay, so stranger things have happened, but *still*.

This was beautifully done, and left a real ache where it counts. Read.

*

Kyra Cullinan: The Syntax of Things

Well, *here's* a pairing I never would've considered... Anya/Dawn? Whahuh? Has
the monkey crack been making the rounds again?

Hey, if it has, pass the pipe, man, because this story was *good*. Gentle and sad
and so *intelligent*. Dawn's nothing but herself, all of herself, and clearly Kyra *gets*
her.

And Anya through her eyes is someone both new and familiar.

Beautiful.

*

The ShimmerTwins: "Southwest Voodoo" (vid)

"Oh, Te. Have I got a vid for *you*."

Thus spake Laura to me at a gathering of fans out west some weeks ago.

And oh, did she ever.

A Willow vid, this is. But not just *any* Willow vid. Oh, no. This is a Willow
vid for all of us who squealed when she iced Bambi. Who bounced up and
down when she pointed out to Giles that maybe he shouldn't piss her off.

Who writhed in horror at the Wicca is Whack storyline for more reasons
beyond its general suckage and CHEERED when, after Tara got shot,
she fucking lost. Her. Shit.

Lum tells me that she had this song waiting for a *year*, impatiently waiting
for the clips she *knew* were coming so that she could make use of it
properly. And oh man, she *so* did. This vid kicks more ass than a dyke with
anger management problems and a new pair of Docs.

This vid rocks so hard the continents shift.

This vid will quite possibly put hair on your chest.

Watch it.

Send feedback.

Watch it again.

*

FayJay: Watching

*siiiiigh* Remember when Gunn was Gunn? When he had a functioning
brain? When he had a friend named Wesley who he'd never, ever leave?

I do.

So does FayJay.

Sweet and funny and IN CHARACTER GOD DAMN YOU TO HELL DAVID
GREENWALT!!!

*ahem*

Yes.

*

Amy: Who You're Not

If you can't be with the one you love... mindfuck the one you're with to
submission. Isn't that how the song goes?

Man, I've *always* thought Spike/Faith would be absolutely killer to watch,
and I've never been able to figure out why so few writers could make it work.

Most of them go way, *way* over the top with the sturm und drang and blood
and gore, leaving the characters behind for the writer's own personal view of
sexy, "ooh, lookit me, I'm *edgy*" apocalypse.

Amy, on the other hand, *nails* it.

Humor and bitterness and both characters are nothing but themselves... with
all the sex and confusion and darkness that make them up.

Faith and Spike... they really don't *know*, you know?

But it doesn't stop them from loving.

In their way.

I would've worded a few things differently here and there, but overall? Loved it.

Scynneh: Bloodflowers

Ethan and Faith. *Rowr*. What a *pair*.

Almost as perfect as Ethan and Dru in its utter wrongness and perfection.
Mmm. This story is an abstract meander through the city of the mind and
soul, beautiful, disturbing, and with lots of lovely little edges.

It could've used a beta-read, but I loved it just the same.

*

Michelle/Shelly: the sixth visit

There's something terribly intriguing about the idea of pairing a Slayer and
a Watcher -- I suppose that's why there's so much horrible Giles/Buffy out
there. But what about the *other* Slayer and Watcher?

What a history there. What a nasty bit of life to overcome.

Shelly does a good job with that here in this post-S3 Faith/Wes. A weirdly
*believable* look at how two of the most severely disillusioned people in the
world might find a way to connect.

Again, it could have used a beta-read, but I still loved it.

*

Laura Shapiro: "Tell Me" (vid)

Probably my favorite vid of all time. I think there are others that *might* be
slightly better from a technical standpoint, but I just don't care. Laura found
a song that went right to the heart of the Buffy/Faith character arc and proceeded
to kick almighty *ass*.

I can't tell you how many times I've watched this vid. *Me*, with my slow-ass
dial-up connection. It's just that good. The rhythms match the action in a way that
makes you want to send Laura to Hollywood to do the soundtracks to movies
and television. The cuts are brilliant.

The plot is coherent, heartbreaking, and just... it fucking *transcends* even the
incredible brilliance of what Joss and co. did with the Buffy/Faith arc on the
*show*, and we all know how good *that* was.

Go. Watch. See what I mean.

*

Jenny-O: Oasis

There are few things in this world cooler to me than myth and theology twisted,
tweaked, and adapted. I love it when the legends walk.

I love it when writers can make me believe.

Nope, I won't spoil.

And: Merciful

Rowr. Sarah T. pointed this one out to me and I'm oh-so-glad she did. The
things we do for the very best reasons...

Heh. Road to hell and all that.

And you just *know* Angel's planning would be *just* that bad. Jenny-O
paints a brilliant picture of Cordy/Not!Cordy here, drugged and dreaming
and hungry, so hungry.

So menacing.

The two of them trapped together in their own private Hell. *purr*

A few typos here and there, but nothing serious.
 
 

Anna: Sidelines

Once, way back when, the Spike and I were lazing around, fantasizing about
what it would be like if we could get our favorite writers to write our favorite
pairings. We were in the Buffy zone at the time, and there was some serious
chair-damage at casa del Te at the very *idea* of Anna someday writing
Xanderslash.

We thought it would never happen.

We were happily, gloriously, marvelously, wonderfully wrong.

Here, have a few quotes:

"'S okay," Xander shrugged, "Neither am I. It's just this tone of voice I've
cultivated." He was showing it off as he spoke: flat, casual, indifferent, the
accomplishment of years poised between boredom and mortal terror. "Tone
is everything. Content meaningless. Observe. Radishes are what's for
dinner. Not the skunk again, honey. Yes, that is my broken foot you're
standing on."

The other man laughed, and hey, Xander could admit it. He had a little
man-crush on Riley.

And:

"Bugger!" Spike bellowed from somewhere outside Xander's field of
vision, and suddenly a boot kicked an armchair into view outside the
open door. Spike appeared a moment later, coat off and sleeves rolled
up, wrestling the chair into submission. He knocked it aggressively around
on its legs as he shoved it at the doorway, glowered in baffled rage when
it didn't fit through the frame, then hauled off and began kicking its ass
again and again in a savage frenzy. Pausing to look up, he scowled. "Could
use some help here."

"Right now, Spike, you're my television. Do that dance again."

And:

Despite the absence of any lock on his door, no one had yet disturbed
his stuff. And that might have had something to do with Spike, too. No
estrangement could quite kill the vampire's sense of territoriality; weirdly
irrational as he was, he seemed inclined to keep Xander safe from harm.
Okay, so he'd watched and lurked with cynic-eyed indifference while
Xander got mugged last week, but afterwards he'd collected the perps--
a couple of ratty Frellar demons--made them apologize and hand
back the bag of tacos, and then killed them. That was nice.

~

Why are you still here and not reading this *story*? Are you *nuts*?

Okay, look. Anna takes season four and skews it in her own mad, merry way,
taking one of my old complaints -- Xander being way gayer than Willow --
and running with it and. *AND*

Wait for it.

Writing. Plausible. Spike/Xander.

Run, do not walk.

*

chelle: Strawberry Road

Ever notice how some pairings bring out the big, hairy Issues in people?

Sure, every fandom has its share of stories where only a willfully blind
reader could miss the authors' deep psychological problems, but for *some*
pairings...

Dude, I stopped reading Faithfic except off of recs (and stories by authors
I already trusted) a long time ago because there was just something about
her that made people go... nuts. Or rather, expose all of their lunatic issues
right out there where God and everyone could see and call it Faith's. Or
whoever Faith was fucking. Or both.

And I don't subtract myself from this particular complaint. Some characters...

Perhaps it was the hunger in her eyes. Perhaps it made us believe she could
swallow us all whole and still land on her feet, still look just like herself, as
opposed to a Faith-shaped mannequin of our neuroses.

Still, whatever it was, it led to a lot of craptacular fic.

This is not one of them.

chelle does an absolutely beautiful job of getting to the heart of what I always
felt was the most important issue of the Buffy/Faith relationship -- what does
Buffy see? What does she want to see? What does she refuse to see?

It's a gorgeous tale, and, more than that -- though for most other pairings I
wouldn't have to say this -- it's a *fair* one. Go. Read. Send feedback.

*

Melymbrosia: Maternity

God, sometimes I think the best thing to come out of the Angel series
thus far is the Darla arc. The *blooming* of it, the surprises and heartbreaks
and terrible beauty and... gah.

The potential of it all to create stories like this one, in which Melymbrosia
explores some of the lesser-known roads through mother-love and comes
out with brilliance.

This is absolutely gorgeous. There's a reason it's being recced all over the
place.

Kyra Cullinan: A Girl With Kaleidoscope Eyes

Sometimes I think my favorite kind of horror is the kind where you only *think*
you know exactly why you're so frightened -- until the end, when the writer twists
the knife and shows you everything you've been missing. (where your eyes don't
go...)

This was a gorgeous little tale, beautiful and terrible and sweet as death.
 

*

Debchan: Deliverance

God. God.

Someone, *somewhere* had to write this, and I'm so glad it's Deb. Just...
argh. I don't *want* to believe in S3, but when a great writer makes it
work...

*whimper*

Connor wandered over to the table, curiously sniffed the glass, then
raised it to his lips.

"Don't drink that."

"Why?"

"It's bad for you. Like poison."

Connor gave him a long, slow look. "You drink it. You're not dead."

"It takes time."

Silence for a while, then, "There are faster ways to die."

Wesley shrugged. "It's the journey that matters."

Still holding the glass, Connor sniffed it again, wrinkled his nose, then
tossed the whiskey back like it was tepid tea. He swallowed and said,
"Then I'll go with you."

~

*snif*

Woobies. Hunting deliverance indeed. So much breaking, here, and
yes, Deb, you *should* own them.

And! Eee! Deb wrote another part to the Webrain's Unpossessed
Country series! Eee!

South takes a look at the world through Oz's eyes, at this world he's
building. The blinders come off, but then, with Oz, they couldn't really
stay on forever, now could they?

And that could be the case, Oz thinks. Ethan is pretty open about what he
is, what he does, and the tools he likes to use, blood being one of them.
Oz is not so naïve that he imagines it was ever only Ethan's blood. For
some reason, this still does not trouble him.

There are moments when Oz wonders what Ethan's blood would taste like.
This does trouble him, probably because Ethan would happily open a vein
for him. Or let Oz bite him. There's always a sort of tacit permission in the
way Ethan's hand cups the back of his head when Oz growls against his
throat as he comes.

Sometimes he wants to. Purely selfish desire and he knows this, knows it
has less to do with the wolf and more with the way Ethan sometimes looks
like he's thinking of someplace far away.

There are worlds within Ethan, entire universes that have nothing to do with
Oz.

And that's…probably realistic, he thinks. Donne was full of crap. Every man
*is* an island and no vacation can last forever.

~

But then... there's always South, isn't there? Mmm. No one writes like Oz like
Deb. No one.

*

Pares: How Good Girls Get Laid

Is there a genre called Adorable Realism? There should be. Just for this
story. *snicker*

Because, well, it's *cute*, and yet real girls think this way, and I could
just hear Willow zipping along on the road to lesbianity by way of
pencil-dropping and modern-day sweater girls.

Ah, Pretty Pretty Pares. How I do love you.

*

Jenny-O: All Your Tomorrows

Anya, and all the stories she hasn't quite told, all the questions she hasn't
quite answered, all the lives she's lived in her own inimitable style. I've been
waiting to read a story like this since season three, and Jenny-O delivers.

More, please.

Jenny-O: Survival Instincts

Holy *shit*! A Gunn/Fred I can *believe* in!

Gunn is Gunn, Fred is Fred -- and just a woman who had one fuck of a hard
life and is making it through with her intelligence and humor and quirks *firmly*
intact -- and the Angel universe?

Is itself.

And not the thing I ran screaming from midway through the season.

Well, if anyone could do it... Jenny-O could.

This story doesn't just pack a punch, it packs a whole slew of 'em. Every time
you get up, thinking that the shock that came before was the last one -- BAM.

And it's all in character. And it all makes *sense*.

Sad and sweet and true. Some people had issues with the revelations
herein. I didn't. Caveat lector.

*

Lar: Real Again

Mmm. Lovely little Xander vignette. And, wonder of wonders, one that takes
into account the horror of "magic addiction" and manages to make
something out of it that I actually *want* to read.

Who knew?

Even better? It's wonderful to know that there are still people in this fandom
who know the difference between a vignette and a plotless character ramble
(cf. Sarah T.). Mm, Xander.

*

Roz Kaveney: Sister

A literally stunning tale of the bonds we build and the lies we tell ourselves
to do so along the way. Roz picks up a few of the threads after the end of
Season Three and runs with them, fulfilling more than a few of my own
worst suspicions. This gave me one hell of a shudder, and I refuse to spoil
a word. Give it a read.

Send feedback.

*

Maddog: Blueberry Syrup is a Crime Against Nature
 

I don't often (read: never) hit ff.net for anything other than fiction bad enough
to mock for my own mean-spirited amusement, but bonibaru had this quote from
the story in her blog, and I *had* to read:

“None of you bothered to tell me about Dawn’s stealing, your failed wedding,
Anya’s conversion or Willow’s magical addiction problems,” Giles ticked off the
points on his hand. “ All I’ve heard from the lot of you is brief e-mails saying
everything is fine,” he snapped.

“We didn’t want to bother you,” Xander explained, “We thought you were busy
getting your life back and didn’t,” he paused, “and didn’t need us bugging you
all the time with our problems.”

“And you don’t think it was a tad inconvenient to be imbued with magical
powers and teleported across the Atlantic to find everything in a total cock up?”

*snert*

It's funny, touching, and gloriously in character for both Xander *and* Giles,
and highly worth a read, despite some POV jumps a good beta could cure.
And now I'm hoping this writer has some G/X slash, because Lord knows the
archive needs something decent. There's a reason I haven't updated in so long.

Jessica Walker: Tucker's Brother

Dude, she totally called it. I mean, she just *did*. In every way. This story
is a dark, twisty ride through Andrew's head, and shows the reader what
it means to be a character tag instead of a person. What it can do to a person.

What it can make a person do.

The story has the best of what Buffy can offer, from sensual horror to
humor to moments so bleak you won't know what to do with yourself. It's
being recced all over fandom, and there's a reason for it.

It is, perhaps, a bit gentler than it *could* be...

But not by much.

No romance here, folks.

*

Melymbrosia: Truly and Forever

As far as I'm concerned? It's canon. Jesus. Willow tried so *hard*,
in her way, but there are flaws, and there are *flaws*...

And when you can do it...

You will. Eventually.

Love the little twists about wrongness, and I refuse to spoil any
further.

So very glad to have Mely writing more Buffy.

*

Sarah T.: Antitype

Mmmm. Giles and Ethan. When fanon attacks! Er... in a good way!

*snerk*

A not *quite* alternate look at the end of Season Six, a lovely send-off
for one of the best recurring characters ever created, and an excellent
invitation to theological argument.

Oh, yes, and love.

And humor.

And... yes. My only trouble with this one was a bit about Giles' attitudes
toward Xander, which scan right for his character, but wrong for canon,
except not. Thorny. YMMV, of course.

*

Aaaaand... a site rec. Campfire Tales fills a much-needed niche in the
Buffy/Angel community. Not only is it gorgeous *and* easy to
navigate, but it's a high-class resource for all you wanted to know about
darker fan fiction in the Mutant Enemy universe. Comes with its own
internal archive as well as recommendations from hand-picked darkfic
writers, not to mention an in-progress how-to guide on seeing the
universe through a glass darkly.

Truly a work of art. Check it out.

*

Jennifer-Oksana: Loveless

Well, *here's* a show that went well and truly down the toilet.

Thank God for Alexis Denisof. Thank God for Stephanie Romanov.
Thank God the writers, for reasons of their own, chose to keep at least
*them* in character, when they were handing the rest of the crew off
to badly trained monkeys to write.

And, of course, thank *God* for fan writers like Jenny-O, who will
gleefully fill in the missing pieces. What a fascinating little relationship,
so hurtful and true.

I may not be able to bring myself to *watch* the ruination of what had
been one of my favorite shows, but I'm grateful that *she* can.
 
 

Benaresq: Drunk

Mmm. Mmm. There's something special about a good Spike/Xander.

I mean, there's something special about every good story, but, when
a story has no *right* to be a good and is *anyway*... well, that's
even special-er.

So here we are, end of 5th season. Spike is bruised and bloody and
pathetic in his crypt. There's a whole new sub-genre of Spikely hurt/comfort
aborning, and everybody and their mama is jumping in on the
bandwagon. We've got your melodrama, your comedy, your rampant
smutfests, and almost none of it makes *sense*.

And here comes Ben, making *Xander* the Spikely comforter. No
melodrama. Only the best sort of inappropriate comedy. Subtly,
deftly handled smut that's still hot. Woo-ha.

So. Special.