The Bloodshedverse :: Spuffy with Bite

Nov 23 2007 10:33 am #1Sensei

When I read Cousin Jean's fanfic The Butterfly Effect, I fell in love with time travel stories. Does anyone have other great ones to recommend?

( The Butterfly Effect has it all--great writing style, humor, sweetness, sadness, a polished plot. Post-Chosen Buffy must go back to season 2 in pursuit of a time-traveling demon and needs the help of season 2 Spike. Their relationship is complex and constantly evolving. Her story can be found at www.dark-solace.org/elysian)

Nov 23 2007 04:30 pm #2slaymesoftly

Moderator

That is one of the fandom's most wonderful stories - without a doubt. I would also recommend Legions of True Hearts by Eurydice. It is my favorite story of all time, I think. :) Anaross has one set after "Chosen" in which Buffy keeps returning in an effort to fix it so that Spike survives the the cave in. I don't recall the title, but I'm sure you can find it on her LJ or her site.

And (update - because I am an idiot) I don't know how I could have forgotten Forward to Times Past by Unbridled Brunnet! I guess I was thinking of completed fics and went brain-dead on this wonderful time travel wip.

Another wip time travel fic is Manifest Destiny by Usige Beathe. Spike and Buffy are sent back to the American West - without their vampire/slayer powers.

Not that I'm recommending them, necessarily, but my Prologue to Life/I Know You also has a post Chosen Buffy going back to Season II (That was a challenge here at the verse some time ago, so there may be several more here with the same theme). Hearts Breaking Even has a small time-travel component, although most of the fic deals with the aftermath and takes place in modern day Sunnydale. To Save a Lady is a time-travel fic in which Spike and Buffy are sent back to 19th century London. Like I said, not that I'm recommending them, or putting them up there with Butterfly Effect or Legions, but you might find something you like. :)

I am not a minion of Evil...
I am upper management.

Nov 23 2007 04:44 pm #3LindsayH

I agree with everything SlayMeSoftly said, and I especially loved I Know You and To Save A Lady. However, my all-time favorite time travel fic (and oh, how it is so much more than just a time-travel fic) is the incomparable Forward To Time Past by Unbridled Brunette. Words cannot describe how much I love this story.

"Do you like my mask? Isn't it pretty? It raises the dead!"--Giles, "Dead Man's Party'

Nov 23 2007 06:39 pm #4Immortal Beloved

The one by Anaross is Domino Effect: http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=anaross&keyword=Domino+Effect&filter=all

Hearts Breaking Even is a good one, and I'll rec it if slayme won't ;-)

Forward to Time Past: I haven't read a lot of time travel fics (hence, the nothing to add to the previous recs :-) ), but I'm afraid that I may never be able to read another fic where Buffy goes back in time and meets William. It's so well-done, and William is so perfectly characterized, that I KNOW that I'll never read another author's William without comparing theirs to UB's William and finding their William seriously lacking. FtTP is quickly becoming my favorite fics of all time, and it's not even completed yet :-P Incomparable, as Lindsay said. And this isn't one of those recs where someone says something is so wonderful, and you read it and are like, "Well, it wasn't THAT good." No, it really IS that good :-)

Give me Spuffy, or give me death.

Nov 23 2007 07:26 pm #5Scarlet Ibis

Agree with the ones mentioned above.

"Time Spinners" by Heather Martin is interestng : http://sinister-attraction.org/stories/h/spinners.htm

And though I haven't read it yet, "The Keeper of Truth" looks promising, in which Buffy is ressurected...to her s2 self : http://sinister-attraction.org/stories/t/keeperoftruth.htm

There's also one where s2 Buffy and Spike are switched with their s6 (or 7?) counterparts...But I can't for the life of me remember the name

"Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly."
https://www.facebook.com/FangirlNovel

Nov 23 2007 09:45 pm #6Always_jbj

Moderator

Future Imperfect - Spike/Buffy also by Cousinjean (complete)

Lost in Time - Spike/Buffy by SpikesKat (complete)

The Call - Spike/Buffy, Spike and Dawn by Mefiant (wip)

Fix You - Spike/Buffy by Enigmaticblue (wip)

What You Wished For - Spike/Buffy by pfeifferpack (complete)

A Cricket From California - Spike (William)/Buffy by Elsa Froman (complete)

Aim from the heart
Some will love and some will curse you, baby
You can go to war
But only if you have to

Fanfic ~*~ Artwork ~*~ Live Journal

Nov 23 2007 11:18 pm #7slaymesoftly

Moderator

Okay, I've been totally shamed by everyone who recced FTTP - I cannot believe I didn't think of it. Also Lost in Time by Spikeskat. Gah! Can I plead senility? LOL

I am not a minion of Evil...
I am upper management.

Nov 23 2007 11:28 pm #8Always_jbj

Moderator

LOL I didn't bother to rec anything that had already been recced...didn't see the point in doubling up...otherwise you KNOW your fics would have been on my list too!

Aim from the heart
Some will love and some will curse you, baby
You can go to war
But only if you have to

Fanfic ~*~ Artwork ~*~ Live Journal

Nov 26 2007 02:45 am #9Jace Nox

There is also

Guardians of the Scythe By Athenewolfe (Post S7 Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Both Buffy and Spike die with an unfullfilled prophecy. Both are resurrected in season 2 with full memories)
The Time of the Guardians by JackOfSpikes (set s6. a post chosen Buffy is risen from the grave and changes the future)
The Gates of Time: trilogy by AuthoressNebula (s7. Willow,Xander, Buffy, Spike. Go back to fix what they did wrong)
Second Chance by JackOfSpikes (After Angel and his team lose the battle in the Alley, everyone dies, and the Powers offer Buffy a chance to go back and fix it all. There's a prophecy involved, and Buffy is not the only one...) This one is still a WIP but its really, really good.

Hope this helps you in your search.

Jace

Nov 28 2007 01:34 pm #10Sensei

3 cheers for all of you! Thank you everyone for your recommendations. I see some of my favorite fanfic authors listed and can't wait to jump into reading every story you have all suggested. Now if I could only quit my job and read fanfic full-time....<g>

Dec 03 2007 10:56 pm #11Scarlet Ibis

Whoops! Can't forget about "Brave New World" by JamesMFan which I highly recommend and is on this site, and "Future Sins Past" by DreamsofSpike has just recently become a time travel fic.

(added) Also, "Beg the Liquid Red" by Eurydice, which is one of my faves, and can be found at loveslastglimpse.com

"Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly."
https://www.facebook.com/FangirlNovel

May 30 2010 04:13 pm #12ghostofsnickerdoodle

I know this thread hasn't been updated since 2007, but Imitation of a Man by

darkapple is an amazing time travel fic, and it needs to be on any list of the genre. It instantly usurped every other time travel fic I've read (and I read and love a lot of them) to become my favorite fic of all time. And I'm picky, dammit.

May 30 2010 05:13 pm #13All4Spike

If we're extending this list, '400 days' by Passionfish simply cries out to be included. :Spuffy:

Love's a funny thing...

May 30 2010 06:58 pm #14nmcil

Thanks everyone for all the recommends - I also love Time Travel

” Recent evolutionary models have demonstrated what politicians have long known: the best way to get people to collaborate and to think like a group is to identify an enemy and charge that “they” threaten “us.”

Michael Tomasello is co-director of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.

May 31 2010 01:46 am #15Sara

Guest

A newish time travel story is Anticipation by 2writers4spike. It has a newly souled Spike being transported back into his 1977 body. Great premise of him having to relive those years again.

Jun 01 2010 01:31 am #16All4Spike

I need to thank you, ghostofsnickerdoodle, for your rec of 'Imitation of a man' by darkapple. I've just spent the weekend reading it and now I think I may just have to go back to the beginning and start reading it all over again.....

Love's a funny thing...

Jun 01 2010 02:00 am #17ghostyouknow27

Guest

I read that fic so often, I'm surprised I don't have it memorized. It's so detailed that I find something new to love every time. :-)

Jun 01 2010 01:37 pm #18All4Spike

I've just remembered another wonderful series - 'Bittersweets' by Herself that has Buffy going back in time, meeting and falling for William then returning to the future pregnant with his child..

Love's a funny thing...

Jun 02 2010 01:56 am #19ghostofsnickerdoodle

Are you sure you're thinking of the right fic? Two stories in the Bittersweets verse have Buffy traveling back in time to make babies ("Mr. Grieves and the Fallen Woman" and "Mrs. Grieves and the Abandoned Husband"), but William is a misogynist and not at all lovable. I believe she was writing another fic where William took over Spike's body and started killing people before she stopped ...

I'm sure there are other fics where Buffy goes back in time, falls in love and gets pregnant, though. I seem to recall at least one or two, though I don't remember their names.

Jun 02 2010 02:15 am #20coalitiongirl

Hm...that sounds like Forward to Time Past by Unbridled_Brunette- I can't remember if Buffy's pregnant in that fic, though.

Jun 02 2010 02:17 am #21slaymesoftly

Moderator

Yeah, William's a real jerk in the first two. She has a later fic in which Buffy and Spike are together (married?) in the present and when she goes back, things go a little better with William - for a while. I forget the whole plot now, but she ends up jumping back to the future with her new baby and William somehow follows her. Needless to say, bit of a shock to find out she's married to a vampire that used to be him. He wants his son back, but in the end does something selfless to allow him to stay with his mother. Hope that's not providing too many spoilers - it's a good story.

The sequel to Legion of True Hearts (something Echoes - I'll try to look it up) has Buffy coming back pregnant. It's an exciting fic, if not quite as wonderful as Legions. :)

I am not a minion of Evil...
I am upper management.

Jun 02 2010 02:42 am #22ghostyouknow27

Slaymesoftly - I think you're talking about "Mrs. Grieves and the Abandoned Husband." Buffy wakes up in the past, thinking that she's married to William and living with him in Italy. She gets pregnant, he discovers she's the Slayer, he locks her up, and then she returns to and gives birth in the future. In her world, she was just asleep for a few hours.

Of course, the resulting kid doesn't turn out too well ...

"A Symphony of Echoes" has Buffy pregnant after falling for William in the past. It's very well-written, but I confess that the end squicks me out. :-)

Jun 02 2010 03:03 am #23slaymesoftly

Moderator

Hmmm - you could be right, Ghost. I just had the impression when I read it that it was fairly recent. But that certainly sounds like it. But then... I don't know which of them I read. I know at the time I first saw it, I did not read Mr Grieves and the Fallen Woman because i hated William. I think I tried it again, years later, but not sure if I finished it. For some reason, I was sure I hadn't read the second one because I didn't like the first one, but the one I'm thinking about sucked me in before I realized I was going to that same William and place. But, I'm sure you're right. I'm famously confused when it comes to titles. I probably just didn't notice the title or realize it was the follow up to Mr. Grieves and the Fallen Woman.

What squicked you about the ending of Symphony of Echoes? (thanks for the title. lol) I remember not being thrilled about all the running about just after having given birth, but I can't really remember the exact ending.

Coalitiongirl, Buffy is not pregnant in FtTP. The modern parts are about she and Spike realizing what they've lost and working their way toward some kind of relationship. I'm pretty sure I would have remembered if she was pregnant.... (would be embarrassing if she was and I've forgotten, given that i beta'd most of it, but anything is possible. :))

I am not a minion of Evil...
I am upper management.

Jun 02 2010 03:15 am #24ghostyouknow27

In "Symphony of Echoes," Esme (I think that's her name?) destroys the Spuffy baby's soul, and Willow replaces the baby's soul with William's. I believe Buffy even hears William say something at the time of the spell, as he's entering the baby. Even though I think the soul was just supposed to be a life force or whatever, my first thought was "Ugh! She's going to give birth to the baby's father!?" Unfortunately, it was also my second and third thought. :-)

And nope, no pregnancy in FtTP. I know because it's probably my second favorite fic of all time (even if the Victorian era's a bit cushy for me), and I re-read it all the time. I have a thing for time travel, especially time travel to the 19th century, if you can't tell. :-)

Jun 02 2010 03:37 am #25slaymesoftly

Moderator

Ah ,see, I hadn't remembered that at all. Hee! I really was a bit disappointed in SoE, mostly because it followed a fic I enjoyed so much and I was expecting so much more from it. So, only bits and pieces of it have stuck with me. I liked the scene when Spike found out she was pregnant (and she didn't know), and much of their reunion scene - but the rest of it didn't do all that much for me. Like I said, I think that was me more than the fic.

I am not a minion of Evil...
I am upper management.

Jun 02 2010 04:08 am #26ghostyouknow27

I know what you mean, because I also adored "Legions of True Hearts" (though my favorite Eurydice is "Charms of the Clarion," because I also have a thing for old folk tales).

Legions hit a couple of my kinks, while Echoes touched on a few story lines that I generally dislike (plus squick), so it's not too surprising that I liked Legions better. In general, I assume that I'm the one with issues. :-)

Jun 02 2010 06:40 am #27nmcil

"I need to thank you, ghostofsnickerdoodle, for your rec of 'Imitation of a man' by darkapple. I've just spent the weekend reading it and now I think I may just have to go back to the beginning and start reading it all over again..... "

Is this a permanent WIP? It sounds great, but if it is never going to be completed, its being wonderful will only add to my disappointment -

Jun 02 2010 07:10 am #28coalitiongirl

Imitation of a Man is complete, and yes, quite the experience. :)

Jun 02 2010 05:19 pm #29Guest

Guest

I want to add my voice to those who've said Imitation of a Man is a great fic. I've read it twice and both times it totally blew me away. Also it's not a WIP. It's a completed work with a very loveable William who lost his family's fortune and became poor.

I liked it so much that now I'm looking for other time travel fics that have an impoverished William. Anyone know of any?

Jun 02 2010 05:44 pm #30Tango

Guest

I'm a big fan of time travel, though most of the titles that immediately come to mind have already been mentioned. I'm also eagerly awaiting the next installment of Alexannah's Welcome Back to the Hellmouth, where definitely post-Chosen Buffy is sent back to the very beginning in Season One in her old body. http://bloodshedverse.com/stories.php?go=chapters&no=11177

Only Time will Tell by dampersandspoons, where post-Chosen Buffy and Giles have to travel to late 1800s London to retrieve an object; and run into William. An excellent and very fun story. http://spikeluver.com/SpuffyRealm/viewstory.php?sid=31931

Second Chances by pfeifferpack is short, but meaningful and real. Someone from far in the future post-NFA travels back to Season Four. http://spikeluver.com/SpuffyRealm/viewstory.php?sid=22048

Paradox by jackofspikes. Season Six Buffy and Spike get thrown back to Season Two at the hands of the Nerd Trio, and everything changes from there.
This is a long fic, and it has a lot of original elements in magic I like, but at times it's hard to follow because the action stops to go deep into a character's feelings or private revelation. The issue of time travel is handled well, though, and I'll always remember this as one of the first fics I'd ever read and liked how so many of the issues and problems I thought never addressed between the characters had a chance to work out. http://spikeluver.com/SpuffyRealm/viewstory.php?sid=26328

Jun 02 2010 11:01 pm #31Always_jbj

Moderator

There's a huge collection of Time Travel recs here... blazingfirewolf.livejournal.com/20912.html

Aim from the heart
Some will love and some will curse you, baby
You can go to war
But only if you have to

Fanfic ~*~ Artwork ~*~ Live Journal

Jun 03 2010 11:46 pm #32All4Spike

Thanks for that list, Always_jbj. Unfortunately I got all caught up in 'Manifest destiny' by Uisge Beatha before clicking to find I'd got to the last of the published chapters (24) with Buffy & Spike just getting close and no end in sight. Yet another abandoned fic :-(

Unfortunately quite a few links on that list don't work any more, and most of the Spuffy Realm links lead to the defunct address.

As for the 'Bittersweets' series rec - I think perhaps I was thinking of a different fic. If I remember correctly (this time) I never made it to the end of Bittersweets - it proved a bit too bitter for me.

'Paradox' is one of my favourite Spuffy fics of all time. I go back frequently for a re-read and every time I get to the end and find 'To be continued in book two.' I pout at the fact that book 2 never materialised.

Love's a funny thing...

Jun 04 2010 03:00 am #33ghostyouknow27

I was also deeply saddened by "Manifest Destiny." Permanent WIPs are just a part of fandom, but that doesn't mean I have to like them. :-(

I have mixed feelings about "Bittersweets." The stories are well written, of course, but Buffy never seems to learn from her mistakes, and Spike seems to come off as victim in their relationship time and time again, at least IMO. I'm just not a fan of Saint Spike. I really enjoy most of her one-shots, though.

Jun 05 2010 03:52 pm #34ghostyouknow27

This one could maybe potentially be a time travel fic? William drinks laudanum and sees Buffy. It looks like an AU right now, but the author says it's post-Chosen. The Girl with Flaxen Hair by Unbridled Brunette. It's a WIP.

Jun 05 2010 11:55 pm #35slaymesoftly

Moderator

I was sad to see Manifest Destiny abandoned too. I tried bugging her about it for a while, but she has obviously moved on and lost any interest in our poor lost-in-the-past couple.

I am not a minion of Evil...
I am upper management.

Jun 06 2010 02:26 am #36Sensei

Now you all have me so curious--I have to read Manifest Destiny for myself. Only I really hate reading unfinished stories...I don't have enough imagination to create a good ending in my head to put closure on such stories. But many of you do! I know several such stories where the author has given permission to someone to write an ending for her abandoned story. So I challenge one of you to ask the author, and if she says yes, go ahead and finish the story!

Jun 06 2010 02:58 am #37slaymesoftly

Moderator

I actually thought about that, Sensei. Asking Terry if I could finish her story. But I'm not sure how she would respond. Maybe she just sees it as on hiatus, rather than a permanently unfinished fic She hasn't been on LJ in a long time (although her housemate is every day). She actually lives just 40 minutes or so from me. Maybe I should take her out to lunch and broach the subject when she's had a couple of glasses of wine..;)

I am not a minion of Evil...
I am upper management.

Jun 06 2010 04:24 am #38ghostyouknow27

Dooooo it!

Personally, I don't think I could finish someone else's fic. I can ape other styles pretty well (I have written a few small articles under other people's names). But if I had free rein, I don't even want to think what I would do to someone else's story ...

True story: When I left the fandom back in '03ish (not that I was ever terribly involved), I abandoned a story. Once in a while, I would get an e-mail asking me to finish it. I would respond with, "You don't want me to finish it, really. I was going to kill Spike." :-)

Jun 06 2010 03:15 pm #39slaymesoftly

Moderator

ROFL Yeah, that would have been a conversation-ender.
I'm just not comfortable taking over someone else's story. If she has a plan (which she does, I think) then I'd feel obligated to follow her plan for it. Which wouldn't be a big deal, because I have no idea how to solve the problem she set up ;) But, if she doesn't, and I did something she didn't like... Plus, I don't know if I could write like someone else well enough to make it seamless.

I don't think I'd like it if someone was playing in my sandbox, so I'm very hesitant to ask someone else to let me do it. I did re-write someone else's story once - accidentally - thinking I was continuing a very short story that presented a cool idea, only to find out that the writer had continued it and I just hadn't noticed that there were more pages to click on! Very embarrassing - not only did I have to contact her to ask if it was okay if I "continued" it, I then had to recontact her and grovel, explain that I hadn't known she had a longer story than the bit I'd see that inspired me, and ask if she wanted me to take my version down. :( She was very gracious about it, fortunately, and I ended up writing a much longer plottier sequel to the original fic(s) that was a lot of fun to write.

I am not a minion of Evil...
I am upper management.

Jun 06 2010 04:25 pm #40ghostyouknow27

Hee. It's funny how readers don't always love authors who brutally off all the characters, considering how kill-happy ME is and was. :-)

I wouldn't take over someone's story without explicit approval and a go-ahead on the ending. Kinda like how authors have to get licensed material approved by ME before it goes to print, etc., even when the material's a secondary text and not at all canonical.

I'm just totally the wrong person to take over another writer's project (or even to collaborate, really). I'm not good at outlines – I figure out how the story ends and go from there – so I doubt I could stick to someone else's strict outline. And I already/always have enough (too many!) of my own weird plot bunnies biting at me, only half of which I'm actually capable of writing as it is. :-)

I'm not sure if I would let someone take over for me or not – maybe if I was familiar enough with their writing and knew they'd stick with my ending – but even then, I just don't know.

At least it all turned out well in your case. :-)

Jun 08 2010 12:09 am #41nmcil

As a reader - I very much appreciate the writers that have lost interest or simply no longer have time to devote to their works that leave their readers with an outline of what they had planned. Especially if you have had devoted readers that have been following your work for months and even years, it seems like a simple thing that a writer can do for the people who have had interest and great pleasure from reading the work.

I absolutely refuse to read any more works, irrespective of how outstanding they be - there are so many good and new writers in the Buffyverse FF genre that I would rather support new people trying to do work. Or if I really loved a former Buffyverse writer that has gone on to original work, I like to support those efforts as well.

Jun 08 2010 12:41 am #42ghostyouknow27

I get that. I am always really sad when I get to the last posted chapter and realize there's no resolution.

At least in my case, I had only posted one or two chapters, I was never a popular (re:good) writer, so I didn't have legions of followers, and I removed my stories from my site/LJ/archives. This story just somehow ended up on sinister attraction, and I didn't bother trying to get it removed there. *shrugs*

I'll read permanent WIPs if the premise is interesting enough and it looks like it does have some resolution, just not an epilogue. But mostly I avoid them.

Jun 08 2010 07:41 am #43Sensei

Oh yes, nmcil. Absolutely! I agree those that post the outline so we can have closure on abandoned works are really taking their loyal readers' feelings into consideration. Alas, you don't find many authors who do that--maybe they think they'll really finish it "someday" and just never do or maybe they quit writing because they never had a plot outline and have no idea how they are going to end the story. I've seen authors admit the story went off on a tangent and suddenly the author found herselfhimself not knowing how to proceed with the plot. But for those of you who do have abandoned works and outlines, let me echo nmcil's idea to please post your outline.

Hey, nmcil. Huh? You wrote above, "I absolutely refuse to read any more works, irrespective of how outstanding they may be..." You aren't dropping out of the fanfiction fandom are you? Or was that a typo and you meant any more UNFINISHED works???

Jun 08 2010 06:15 pm #44nmcil

Hey, nmcil. Huh? You wrote above, "I absolutely refuse to read any more works, irrespective of how outstanding they may be..."

just a typo - I love and have too much admiration for the complexity and power of the Spuffy relationship to stop reading and working with these characters -

Can someone please tell me what happened to our "quote" mode -

On another note - I am starting to do some CD Buffyverse Fan Fiction covers for members to use for their home files

Sep 20 2010 07:05 am #45nmcil

I finally had a chance to read this one - I am so glad that I found the recommend here - What an outstanding work - I sorry that the writer will not be doing anymore Buffyverse works. This one novel is a great addition to the Spuffy FF works. Thanks to all who recommended it.

Imitation of a Man is complete, and yes, quite the experience.

Sep 20 2010 06:28 pm #46pfeifferpack

I suggest a read that you may well ignore because it is ultimately Spike/Tara. It is the only time this pairing made sense to me yet it is post NFA (with canon intact including Tara's death in S6). Summary in brief....Sometime after NFA Willow seeks out Spike to send him back to that moment when Tara is shot to prevent it from happening. This leads to a trip WAAAAYYYYYY back in time for Spike and Tara and a bond that starts from necessity and grows to respect and caring, finally to love. Meanwhile the time-line continues as it did because they do their level best not to change anything. It really is a lovely read.

http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=spiketara&keyword=The%20Long%20And%20Winding%20Road&filter=all

Kathleen

Sep 20 2010 11:40 pm #47nmcil

Still totally devoted Spuffy fan, but of all the other women in the series, Tara is the only other character that I like with Spike - but I still prefer Tara-Spike in a platonic relationship - both characters make such "outstanding and deep friendship material" - and there was so little of that for them in the series. Same goes for Giles and Anya, that was such a potentially great relationship. Anya, IMO, was wasted as a character and was wasted with Xander. It seemed like their relationship never went beyond treatment of contrast and vehicle for Xander to play his lines off. Tara could have been such a good way to explore Spike's character, where Dawn was too young to be more than a "young sister" and someone for him to be the "protector role" - Tara could have been the adult model for discussions. Would this have changed the powerful story that was eventually developed for Spike & Buffy? Did Spike have to be the "complete outsider" to be effective?