recs post #7 - at last!

[snick_backup]

It’s been quite a while since I last did a recs post, mostly because I haven’t gotten the chance to read as much lately, but just recently I've run across enough really excellent fics that they just demanded a post.

A Slayer in Camelot, by lears_daughter
BtVS post-S5; Merlin spoilers through late S1
Buffy’s fall through the portal landed her in Camelot, where she meets a man who looks very much like Giles. I only know Merlin secondhand, via the flist, but I still enjoyed this crossover quite a lot. There are lots of great Buffy-esque moments, including pitch-perfect first and last lines, and the Buffy/Uther romance-that-wasn’t is understated and almost sweet.

From Nothing to Something in 50 Sentences, by empressvesica
post-Chosen
Another fic found in my search for Faith/Giles, this really is a romance in 50 sentences. The structure allows for a long, slow construction of the relationship, which works really well for these two scarred characters that are both so armored against emotional intimacy.

Vigil in Accustomed Places, by djinn_fic
Spoilers through 5.16 “The Body”
A character study of Joyce, waiting many a time for her daughter/warrior/baby girl to come home. Brief, spare, with some lovely insights.

When Violet Eyes are Smiling, by rebcake
vague spoilers through the end of BtVS
A girl from the future with fuchsia hoverboots comes to set Joyce Summers straight about some things. This was written in response to a discussion of Mary Sues, and manages to be entirely tongue-in-cheek and yet feel genuine at the same time. But mostly: funny. Because rebcake always brings the funny.

Scarlet and Midnight - penny_lane_42
post-S2
So I have a thing for Buffy and Spike meeting up during the summer post-S2 (in shippy context or not). I have a serious thing for post-apocalyptic scenarios. And I like hurt/comfort fic. All of which means that of all the beautifully-written, insightfully-characterized fic in penny_lane_42’s oeuvre, Scarlet and Midnight almost has to be my favorite. The prose is excellent, too, although, as I told the author the other day, I get too caught up by the gorgeous character interactions to notice it.

Ouroboros and Three Nights Spent in Bed, by st_salieri
post-series
You guys may have picked up by now that babyfic/pregnancyfic is a major guilty pleasure of mine. These two intertwined Spike/Buffy fics, however, have no guilt at all associated with them. They’re exactly how I like my babyfic: quiet, down-to-earth, unromanticized yet full of wonder at the marvel of new life, and beautifully characterized.

Restoration, by msclawdia
post-NFA
Usually I’m not much for shanshu!Spike fics. His vampirism is so integral a part of the character that I can’t help but see the ‘reward’ of being human as a kind of diminishment. I told rebcake some of this and she pointed me to Restoration, which chronicles Spike’s (now William’s) post-NFA transformation from ex-vampire to a whole person. It’s a quiet, reflective fic with a lovely sweet gradual Buffy/William romance thrown in as well.

Gifts, by green_maia
post-Chosen
And, another shanshu!Spike fic, this one the first of a whole ‘verse of fics (full index here) dealing with Spike, Buffy, Dawn, Giles, and the post-Chosen world. “Gifts” is all Spike and Spike&Dawn - which combination always makes me happy - and is both elegiac and hopeful. Maia’s take on the contrast between Spike and shanshu!Spike is an interesting one, and her ideas about the differences between them make more sense to me than almost any other soul/soulless discussion I’ve seen.