Some Spuffy fic where Willow, Xander, and/or Giles are the best

[thenewbuzwuzz]

Thursdays are for reccing!

I'm trying to make a point in the general direction of Rahirah, who said on tumblr, "I just want a Spuffy fic where Willow, Xander, and Giles are not portrayed as the Absolute Worst Always. Is that too much to ask?"

I know that Rahirah has read many of these and is likely to be uninterested in most or all of the others for various reasons. But I can't/won't resist what looks like a straightforward rec request. :D

I think most of these are available both on EF and AO3. I grabbed the closest link I had at hand.


WILLOW & BUFFY FRIENDSHIP

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Sunalso (complete)

"Welcome to the Hellmouth! Part Deux" by OffYourBird (complete)

"Prisoners of Love, Blue Skies Above" by Bewildered (WIP!)

Ripples on a Hellmouth by stuffandnonsense (complete) is basically a Buffy&Willow fic with Spuffy. Willow is dark for significant parts of the story, but the characterization is complex, and the story as a whole really focuses on the friendship.


LIKABLE XANDER

The Twilight Zone by Sunalso (complete)

I think Rahirah has heard of this one, so it's not helpful as a fic rec for her, but the Spike & Xander friendship in the Barbverse (a series by Barb C.) is a thing of beauty.

The Edge by Sigyn (complete). Mind the warnings.

Remember When by tempestt (WIP!)

Unspoken by Anaross (complete)
Hell, I liked Xander better than Iiked Buffy in this fic.

Dancing Lessons (WIP!) - I've written down there was good Xander development - though this is a hilariously incomplete way to rec Dancing Lessons.

A Stone's Throw from Yesterday by Eurydice (complete)
a "pretty cool Xander", past!buzwuzz says


GILES BEING THE BEST

When the Floods Roll Back by OffYourBird (complete)

"Prisoners of Love, Blue Skies Above" by Bewildered (WIP!)

Knight Errant by medievalchic (WIP!)

I'm *certain* there's more out there. Can anyone think of other great Gileses in Spuffy fic? I know Bewildered and yellowb write a delightful Giles. I think my problem is that I expect Giles to be great, so I don't make a note of it when he is.


SCOOBY LOVE IN GENERAL

Someday by Sunalso (complete)

OffYourBird doesn't always write Scooby ensemble, but when she does, it's absolutely delightful:
"The Darkling" by OffYourBird (WIP!) takes about 40 chapters to get to the Scoobies, but then they're fantastic. ...It's hard to say if it's worth reading the story JUST for the Scooby interaction, because I love the rest of the story for everything else.

Tales from a New Body by OffYourBird (complete) only takes about 20 chapters to get to brilliant Scooby goodness...

The Scoobies Discover Nature by OffYourBird (complete)
There's some Spike-Xander antagonism, but between the two of them Spike's being more of a dick, and I don't think anyone takes it too seriously. Not heavy on deep&meaningful friend interaction, it's just everyone hanging out together, being cute, and having fun.

Rewritten by Sigyn (complete), in which everyone is adorable and happy.

Lions by Mia Vaan (complete)
Willow and Xander are Spuffy shippers on deck, so I have to throw this one in.

Here We Go by halincandenza (WIP!) - this version of Buffy has lovely supportive friends

Comments

[slaymesoftly]

Some great recs there, and also some I haven't read and should look into. I do like a good ensemble fic and I like to write them. While Xander can be either a good guy or a bad one, Giles almost always is his own steady self in my fics. I have a few that actually focus on just them, but they are very short little glimpses of their characters rather than actual plotty fics.

[thenewbuzwuzz]

Yay! :)

[rahirah]

Aw, thank you! I have read some of them, and some are by authors I'm wary of (I have... issues with Sigyn's Buffy) but I will check them all out!

[thenewbuzwuzz]

:))

Haha, five of them are time travel (three of which with almost the exact same plot!! as responses to the same prompt). And "The Edge" is A Lot even though I love it and I have no problems with Sigyn's Buffy -- well, you'll see the warnings (for what it's worth, I don't *think* biting came up). So I don't expect you to check them all out thoroughly! I think there was some bitey/claim-adjacent stuff in "Remember When", but it came and went (and I love the story). And I know you already tried "Tales from a New Body" and it didn't work for you (I'm very curious about whether Darkling might - though it's absolutely not ensemble fic for a long, long time, so... *shrugs*).

So, uh, enjoy, hopefully.

[rahirah]

It's not that I innately hate time travel (I've written some myself, after all)! It's more that... well, as you point out here, when it comes to Spuffy fic, so much of it is the exact same plot, even when it's not written for the same prompt. Either it's Spike-and-or-Buffy go back in time and fix their own relationship (and everything else), or Buffy goes back in time and meets William and learns a Valuable Lesson About Spike. No matter how well-written it is, I'm just burnt out on it. If there were more Spuffy time travel along the lines of MustangSally78 and RivkaT's Serious Moonlight that might be a different story. Because it would be, er, a different story.

I tried Darkling once, and kinda bounced off of it after the first two or three chapters. But everyone raves about it, so I keep thinking I should try again.

It's not the biting per se that bothers me about Sigyn's Buffy -- it's more general. Her stuff often puts Buffy in situations where she's dominated/abused/controlled, and where Buffy believes she deserves it. Which is fine! It's fiction, and we all have our kinks. But that particular one is one of my biggest squicks. Our ids are just diametrically opposed. (And she does tend towards Angel-hate, which makes me want to defend him. Don't make me want to defend Angel, darn it!)

[thenewbuzwuzz]

Yep, these time travels are all fix-its where post-series Buffy goes back to canon era, apart from Darkling. ("Someday", "Welcome to the Hellmouth - Part Deux", "Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow", "Ripples on the Hellmouth" are the other time travel stories in the list)

It took me a couple of chapters to start raving, but YMMV :)
ETA: maybe I should warn you there isn't a whole lot of plot in The Darkling, certainly not by "Amy teams up with Ethan Rayne" standards. :D It's very character- and relationship-centric.

Yeeaaah, these Sigyn stories might not be fun for you. In the fluffy one, there's a whole plotline about how terrible Angel was, and The Edge is a minefield of potential squick.

[thenewbuzwuzz]

Oh, and "The Twilight Zone" gets pretty bashy about both Angel and Riley, and I think it's fair to say Riley is a villain in "Here We Go".

And there's some elaborate claim-related worldbuilding at one point in "Knight Errant". :D Though no actual claims, as far as I remember.

[lusciousxander]

Thank you so much for the list! I enjoy fics more when all characters are written fairly. It just gets lazy when good guys become one-note villains.

[thenewbuzwuzz]

Yay! :))

There must be many more stories where the Scoobies are treated fairly. Say, would you like to rec me some of your favorite Xanders in Spuffy fic?

[lusciousxander]

All I can think about are my fics... *blush*

Support: retelling of S7 “Never Leave Me” where Xander and Willow not only show their support against Anya and Dawn’s anti-Spike stance, but also do something about it.

https://dark-solace.org/elysian/viewstory.php?sid=5880


Fooled by a Sauron: A rewrite of S7 where The First is extra more manipulative and vicious than in canon. Begins after the episode: Him. The First is planning to end the Slayer line, starting with Buffy and her friends. (WIP)

https://dark-solace.org/elysian/viewstory.php?sid=5108

[thenewbuzwuzz]

Both of those concepts sound great! Thank you. :) Someone already recced "Support" in the EF Facebook group discussion, but I think I had missed "Fooled by a Sauron"! I'm excited to know it exists.