Past Featured Story
Summary: Spike thinks Buffy needs a vacation. 


For once, Buffy and Giles agree with him. 
Beta and Sensitivity Readers: None
Artists: None
Categories: Season 6, Alternate Reality
Characters: Buffy, Dawn, Giles, Spike
Genres: Angst, Drama, Dramedy, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Warnings: Adult Language, Mental Health Issues, Sexual Situations, Suicidal Ideation
Completed: No Chapters: 4
Word count: 21,177 Hit Count: 2,423 ePub Downloads: 19
Published: July 05, 2021 Updated: September 02, 2021


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Story Notes: I just want Buffy and Spike (but mostly Buffy) to not be miserable for a little while, is that so much to ask??
 
Probably, yeah.
 
Takes place after Tabula Rasa except Spike and Buffy don't smooch at the end. Veers sharply into AU. I would also consider this Family/Friendship but didn't see that as an option in the tags. 
 
I don't know what I'm doing at the best of times. Please be gentle.

1. Chapter 1 by zion - Likes: 25 Comments: 15 Word Count: 4,084 Hit Count: 791 Published: July 05, 2021

I'm convinced that if Paddington 2 somehow came out in 2001 it would both cure Buffy's depression and fix everything that irritated me about season six. Maybe even prevent 9/11, idk. Make of that what you will. 

2. Chapter 2 by zion - Likes: 25 Comments: 13 Word Count: 5,635 Hit Count: 500 Published: July 19, 2021

I was watching Ted Lasso and Anthony Head showed up playing this massive prick. He was even named Rupert!! The writers knew what they were doing with that, I’m convinced. Anyway. I adjusted the tags to be safe because this seems to get more and more bittersweet the more I write. Plus I have a weird sense of humor if you couldn't tell from the title, idk. 

Just as a warning, some casual Islamophobia is briefly mentioned. There will also be chapters in the future featuring characters both blunt and ignorant, which is rarely a winning combination, so keep that in mind. This chapter is also mainly me dumping all my airplane-related trauma onto other people, and for that I am sorry (only not really, y’all get to suffer right along with me and Buffy). Spike will be more front and center next chapter.

3. Chapter 3 by zion - Likes: 21 Comments: 12 Word Count: 6,071 Hit Count: 478 Published: August 19, 2021

Giles’s country home in the show was shot in Farmborough, but the wiki has it listed as being located in Westbury. I decided to just make up my own small town for the sake of wiggle room/creative license. I also got to express some of my WTAFuckery to the season 7 reveal that Giles apparently lives in the English equivalent of the one hundred acre woods, which felt good, I must admit.

There’s a section midway through that touches on Irish Travellers. If you’re interested in learning more, this resource is a good starting point: https://www.irishchaplaincy.org.uk/

I rewatched Derry Girls while writing this chapter. Love that show.

Edit: It would seem I was a bit too cute for my own good, and made it confusing as to what the creature that shows up in this chapter actually was. Hopefully fixed now.

4. Chapter 4 by zion - Likes: 15 Comments: 9 Word Count: 5,387 Hit Count: 654 Published: September 02, 2021

These last three chapters were originally meant to be one chapter, but the length kept getting away from me. Wild. Frankly this story was outlined at five chapters but that seems highly unlikely now. There’s a gratuitous amount of poetry in this one, including my own. So, uh, sorry about that. I know there were also some requests for smut, but I’m, like, really bad at smut. Sorry about that, too. 

Someone sent me this with no context the other day. Cracked me tf up, and reminded me of Spike.