( a new situation for both of them )
Andrew briefly considered buying Xander a pack of smokes and went ‘that’s not going to help’.
Main Points:( i kinda hope this isn't how it's supposed to be )
More extraneous dialogue. “Even then, I dare say disintegration would not agree with you. Care to find out?”
( -eighteen- )
( existential crises )
2nd apocalypse, Buffy goes off to protect everyone (having already agreed to a plan the next day)
Giles should have known the instant Buffy agreed without a protest, when she was so against the idea. He ran, though he knew he’d be late. Which made him run harder.
Dawn came back (using her Key powers, but Glory’s apocalypse remained firmly in place) and was angry and terrified when her sister died. She latched onto Xan and Spike as father figures. But then Spike died, and Xan wore his ashes in a necklace. It’s pretty much Vibora Bay Crisis when the second apocalypse came ‘round.
They use Dawn’s portal powers to call in help, because there’s no way they’re surviving a third on their own. Even with two of the most powerful witches, a half Draconian, a Key, and an Archmage. (Also a lesser wizard and a gadgeteer. And a Slayer-Faith).
( Chapter 329: Melody and Silence )
( Chapter 328: Death Is a Star )
( Chapter 327: Right Through You )
Also I confirmed have BtVS living rent-free in my head because (I think as a coping mechanism) my brain immediately jumped to ‘well, what would vtuber Scoobies look like’, especially with the new Xander being a youtuber.
*Joss Whedon as the owner of the company (because let's get meta)
Xander
*not being allowed to be out as bi; mentioned briefly in a single stream & never again
*generally presented as the ‘nerd one’, which he’s kind of cool with because he can ramble about stuff he likes and cool plot twists in the game he’s playing for hours and people actually listen to him and don’t think he’s a loser
*lost an eye from trying to show off (possibly during career), stuck somewhere between embarrassed because it was an embarrassing move & kind of pleased because he actually finally thinks he’s kinda handsome? until he gets a headache and then is just in a bad mood. It’s not super common, but he has canceled a stream because of it
*community describes him as having “off” and “on” states, because depending on how calm he is he can be really good at puzzles, but if he’s distracted or upset he fails them and eventually just starts randomly inputting answers
*also absolutely terrible at FPS, since his fast-paced hand-eye coordination is practically nonexistent, but will collab if Buffy wants to play. Generally dissolves into a pile of incoherent rambling akin to Markiplier but even less coherent
*often says things without thinking, but when he’s called out on things (& he is called out on things) apologizes, promises to do better, & then actually tries to do better even if he doesn’t always succeed
*admits he’s trying ‘to un-learn problematic shit’ from his parents
*does not always realize things are problematic at first, due to the past trauma, which is why he puts up with management abuse for so long
*Willow helped design his avatar (she was used as unpaid free labor for most of the vtuber models, not that any of them really got that part) and he’s ridiculously proud of it and her for that
*had several toxic relationships, including Faith while Willow had a crush on him he was trying to overlook. Also Cordy, but as per canon that was mostly them just being shitty to each other. (they still kind of lovingly snipe at each other when they run into each other later? But they also 100% have each other’s backs and make better friends, even if most people around them don’t consider them friends; mostly they avoid insults and topics that would actually bother each other)
*hands are tied due to contractual reasons (& maybe recovering from the Eye Incident himself) so he doesn’t speak up when Buffy’s contract is unceremoniously terminated & she’s practically ejected into space
*gets to graduate, speaks in a few vague terms about the matter, wants to collab w/ Buffy again (they go for horror for a ‘more laidback time’, which it is, because neither of them get spooked too often
*misses the old model, but also really really excited about the fact that he gets to gush about “hot guys and pretty girls and everything in between now”
*also is excited because he’d kind of wanted a punk/goth look to his model but that’d been nixed by past management. New management doesn’t restrict him as much.
*went for “a knight who joined an attack on Hell and came out but not unscathed”, trying to decide if he’d go for “demon hyena” here though. We don’t really know anyone’s favorite animals do we
Tara
*was allowed to graduate but basically was never given a chance to succeed; currently taking a break from vtubing right now
*Willow broke up with her when she graduated
*Cordy has extended a ‘behind-the-scenes’ job offer to Tara that she’s considering
Cordy
*practically run out of town, made her own agency & with a lot of hard work has made it work
*It helps that she has an actual management degree & knows what the hell she’s doing
*still streams once in a while with a businesswoman with a bee motif and a whip. Mostly does not have time for this, but she’s still a workaholic.
*she’s the only female owner of a name-brand agency & is proud of it
Angel
*Lost it & started stalking Buffy when they were dating
*went to counseling & is doing better
*Cordy’s holding a seat open for him at her agency when he feels like coming back
Willow
*currently deep into trusting management
*possibly dating Faith? Xander is trying very hard not to think about that and the implications thereof
*mostly she’s hyped up on the fame & glory rn, Xander’s hoping for the best
*and the fact that when she gets an idea stuck in her head, it’s well and truly stuck. Then again, he’s kind of the same way; it took Buffy’s attempted suicide to shock him out of it, but even that hasn’t broken through yet.
*especially enjoys any thinky games or simulators, such as shop simulator games. Occasionally branches out to yuri visual novels because management thinks that’s fine.
*rambles, goes on tangents, sometimes forgets that she’s even playing a game.
Buffy
*was in several abusive relationships that escalated to stalking and one that escalated to cheating; management did nothing to protect her from this
*Loves FPS and action games, though sometimes forgets to even slow down and pay attention to any possible story because she’s having too much fun wrecking shop
*butchers names though half the time it’s on purpose to drive people up the wall
*especially opponents. Particularly when they spend matches screaming abuse at her.
*she refuses to mute her microphone. It’s a pride thing.
*she also pretends none of this gets to her. It does.
*bright, bubbly, likes acting more like an airhead & messing up names if she’s annoyed
*was attacked by a mugger (the Master is now a mugger) once & sent to the hospital. Technically she provoked him a little because she was still feeling bad about Angel but she doesn’t admit to herself why years later.
*the second time was after Dawn joined “as a little sister character” and also her abusive relationship with Spike. Her contract was terminated after this one. She ended up not at Cordy’s agency but a friendly one to that.
*this was also after years of her management gaslighting and lying to her and her friends to try to make sure there wouldn’t be enough solidarity for a security net for anyone in case anything went wrong.
So one day the entire cast wakes up in an anime. I think it’s...weird Victorian steampunk? Half of them (Xander & Dawn included) ended up in the arcade game based on the anime, half of them (Buffy as leader) ended up in the investigation portion of the actual anime. Sadly I didn’t get to see much of that, only Buffy telling someone off for doubting her.
Xander knows a little about the game, but it’s Dawn who knows the most—there’s an arc where the characters find a UFO and try to bring it back as proof that their theory about the murders is correct, only they end up being chased back by an actual UFO and have to fight it. Their actual controls are joysticks, and Dawn remembers things like the quick-turn button (pressing down, the actual top is an ivory color with a double-headed arrow circle to denote this), turning (turning the joystick) and diving, rolling, etc (physically turning the controller). Willow’s exclaiming about how this doesn’t make sense.
“You can rant about that all you want, just...do that over here?” Xander requests, leading her over to the side. “She’s got a couple of the high scores. We should just...let her do her thing.”
He is a little humiliated that both of the Summers sisters are better at arcade games than he is, but whatever, if it’s going to save their lives he’s not complaining. (Never mind the fact that since she’s not actually in the game portion Buffy doesn’t actually have to deal with annoying controls or memorizing patterns.)
“Thanks for that. You look delicious, by the way,” Dawn responds absently, pressing down on the button and frowning.
Xander makes a face. “You’re like my little sister. Please don’t say things that might involve brain bleach.”
“I know, I know, I’m not going to act on it, but looking’s free, and I’ve always liked that character,” Dawn waves him off, frowning more. “...Did they give us a controller running out of batteries or what? This isn’t working.”
Xander’s eyes narrow and then it occurs to him. “Hey, wait a minute—aren’t there engineering tasks in multiplayer? Think we took too much damage?”
“Oh, yeah. And your character’s the engineer, so...get to it. Chop chop.” Dawn points at the “station” and waves him on, grinning, and he makes another face.
“Don’t think skill bonuses are even a thing in arcade games,” he complains, but goes over anyway.
Sadly, I didn’t get an idea of most of their characters. Xander’s is a redhead who’s kind of skinny, likes to argue with authority, and is, as mentioned, an engineer.
I didn’t get a sense of it either way, but it’d be interesting to put Giles with either group. I think if put with Buffy’s he’d alternate between stern “we have to figure out how to leave” and barely concealed excitement because it’s kind of fun. If with Dawn’s, he’d probably get motion-sick at the controls and it’d be more of a matter of, uh, “torturing your characters”.
Shared Jurisdiction
Earning Trust
Gibbs vs Slayers
Out of the Ordinary
A Little Field Trip
Offbeat Questioning
Road Map to the Truth
time gap
time gap
The Requisite Father Embarrassment
Finding Safety
My Fierce Friend
Waiting to Be Found
The Pain of Survival
The Heart Finds a Perch
Haunted By Secrets
Your Truth is What You Wish For
Interagency Cooperation
Got You
Plea Bargains
Evil Plans Within Plans
Floating in Limbo
The Anger Cools
Heart-to-Heart
Plans in Motion
A Good Impression
Pleasant Surprise
Organizational Structure
Foundation of Understanding
Learning to Cope
To Be Seen
A Case of Nerves
Where You Stand
The Theme: Awkward
Good Match
A New Normal
Seen Beyond
Learning Curve
Conflict of Interest
Totally Not a Bribe
What We’re Fighting For
Diary: Prologue
Mutual Demon Removal
Photographs of Home
Comfort vs Oblivion
Blowing Off Steam
move in circles
Battle Plans
Snowed In
Mutual Embarrassment
Warm Welcome
Ghosts in Ultraviolet
*Technically part of the second ‘phase’, but I’m segregating them here because otherwise plot would just appear and disappear without warning. I’m using numbered lists for this one.
1. Meeting the Redfields
2. Meeting the President’s Daughter
3. Haunting Echoes
4. Another Sparda
Alternative Paths (abandoned)
*This is not the pseudo-time travel fic you were looking for, but you found it anyway. And other oddities.
Great Scott!
being goofy
Leon's First Apartment
“Hang on, Xander. If Majima was called Lord of the Night, does that mean we can call you that, too?” Dawn asks as she passes the controller so someone else can get a chance at the karaoke.
As usual, he seems entirely uneasy at anything from Majima’s past being brought up, and shifts uncomfortably on the couch, fiddling with his eyepatch. “Please no.”
Unfortunately, Laura-chan thinks the whole situation’s funny. “We should call ourselves Children of the Night,” she suggests.
“That is not happening,” Xander states firmly and believes that’s the end of it.
Neither of the nicknames go away.
Dawn takes the…weird way into joining the ashigaru. She just shows up one day with a tattoo. (She still mostly works with the Council, but her only fieldwork is with the ashigaru and like her sister she gets antsy if she’s been sitting around too long with no violence.) She’s definitely gone elaborate, a dark purple dignified Western dragon sitting on a heap of gold and jewels and books, claw tracing glowing blue writing in the air just like several of the books (“it’s a protection symbol, since I need those,” she explains). Otousan’s Vampyr book is among the ones on the shelf. She finished it off with a green key on her shoulder (that might be a little too on point, but it’s probably done now? He’s not sure how magic works really, after the prohibition on reading the books out loud).
“Tell her no. Let her retire,” Buffy insists, and it actually physically pains him to say no.
“Stunt like this, she’s made up her mind. If we stop her, she’ll just do it, only she’ll do it alone. Better she’s got backup,” he explains.
Buffy sighs. “I hate it when you’re right.”
“You’re not the only one,” he agrees, and she hangs up.
She’d apparently stolen the spell from Willow’s room.
She ends up as their background magic-user, and gets a lot of training from Sears and Oliver and Lochley, and the entire ashigaru treat her as their niece. It helps that after a few missions, she’ll just come to hang out, which is a lot better.
( weakness to strength )
( Chapter 174: Gift of Death and Life )
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