madimpossibledreamer

okay, rich text is back.  this is good.
also i hate night highway driving.  i almost hit james bond.

wait, how old is the SCA?  Because Buffy and the others could definitely have used that as an excuse if it was around (tbf I should know this, I went to a coronation, I just...was spacing)
THIS IS REALLY WEIRD

edit: research says 1966.  and by research, i mean bing. google agrees.  wikipedia says that it was founded in California for double the relevance.  so yeah, they absolutely could have passed off their weapons, historical research, training, everything as being in the SCA.  also they could then have a subplot in which Xander actually finds use crafting medieval-esque shields, etc and Buffy becomes royalty of a branch.  I don't know if they have wiccan type stuff in the sca.  maybe the crafts and scribal arts bit?  and it'd also be a great front for any medieval research.  this would be incredible.  we needed an episode.  or, you know, a season arc.  barring that, a story.  I'd do it but I'd have to do a lot of research.  Mostly about the leadership, because if Buffy was going to take over a branch I'd need to know that stuff.  (According to Wikipedia, royalty are chosen by SCA armed combat.  Buffy would win by a landslide and mostly have to try to figure out a way to make it look natural and not actually hurt anybody.)  Giles would nerd out while trying not to appear like he was nerding out.  Willow and Tara could actually have met there and/or gone to one of the dancing classes, because among other things the percentage of men to women at the dancing classes was low, so no one batted an eye at women dancing together (and also I got the idea they were pretty cool with non-mainstream living) and they had archery classes, so they could practice there, and when we showed up for the coronation there were a decent number of people practicing fighting with swords and shields outside, so again.  Perfect cover.  And also a lot of story hooks and interesting stuff to do.

also honestly if they did it during the initiative arc and included Riley it'd make his character more interesting automagically.

I just.  man.  again i think we were robbed on this one.

(also also when they do eventually get multiple Slayers they could just keep using that as the perfect cover.)

I remember playing this track a lot around the time I was writing this.

Main Points:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Torchwood crossover
Summary: Would you look at that, more stuff from 2012. This one is a follow-up to a Choose Your Own Adventure Halloween adventure I may or may not finish eventually where Xander ends up with Captain Xan in his head. This is a tag to Buffy vs Dracula, and Xander dies again in this one.  He really needs to learn to stop doing that.
Word Count: 1707
Rating: Teen
Pairing: Spike/Xander
Warnings:  There's some making out in this one between Dracula and Xander and Spike and Xander, not quite consensual on either front, though it's mild compared to either BtVS or Torchwood standards.

( ninth part )

Main Points:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Torchwood crossover
Summary: Would you look at that, more stuff from 2012. This one is a follow-up to a Choose Your Own Adventure Halloween adventure I may or may not finish eventually where Xander ends up with Captain Xan in his head. This isn't really specifically an episode-tag but more an arc-tag-the label Initiative should give away what this one's about.  It's really quick and there's not much to it, but Xander does die again in this part.  Mostly this is a Riley POV thing going "what is happening?" 
Word Count: 1360
Rating: Teen
Pairing: Spike/Xander

 

( eighth part )

 

This mostly exists because I messed up the timeline, but it also makes the Initiative more of a smart threat, so it works.
~Dreamer~

Main Points:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Bleach (I Hope Tomorrow's a Better Day)
Chapter Summary: Riley makes his report.
Word Count: 275
Rating: Gen

          “No,” Riley responds calmly.  “I haven’t found out much more about how the Slayer’s powers work.  They have begun to take me with them on their missions, so I am beginning to have an idea of how they operate.  Observation suggests that as long as magic is not found to be corrupting, it would be a highly useful tool in the field, keeping our agents alive in more scenarios.  I can confirm that they are working with hostiles including Hostile 17.  Apparently in terms of the vampires we have captured, they are mostly just what they refer to as ‘fledges’.  Those are recently made and have less intelligence than the others, ruled by their instincts.  Several of them even have rudimentary culture or imitate our own.  I still have no understanding of what happened to the retail worker.  They would mostly be useful in terms of their knowledge, as the former librarian has a library full of books about subterrestrials that are apparently largely accurate.  I did manage to take a few pictures with the camera I was provided, but it’s likely that if I attempted to take any of them it would be noticed and I might blow my cover.  The former librarian is very meticulous.  Their alliances with subterrestrials seem to be a matter of convenience, and they are certainly naïve.  Their criteria seems to be not killing humans currently and willing to help out with their mission.  For now, I recommend that they be left alive following the end of my assignment, but warned to stay out of our business.  If they refuse, they should be deported to one of our allies.”

Main Points:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Bleach (I Hope Tomorrow's a Better Day)
Chapter Summary: Xander's bad day is just getting worse.  But it might be coming to an end.  (not this fic, though.  I've got plans)
Word Count: 1008
Rating: Gen

Main Points:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Iron Man Crossover (Self-Made Hero)
Summary: The Initiative gets around to actually doing evil things.
Word Count: 1900
Rating: Gen

 

 

One of my favorite things is that, naturally, this Xander is ending up having different relationships with people, just because of who he is.  The smallest (or not so small) changes can make a huge difference.  So, organically, he reached the point where he generally trusts Angel, even though he loves teasing the guy and would not hesitate to stake Angelus (and unlike the others, he actually realizes that, yes, they're the same person).  So, with this...he's not building shrines to Riley.  He actually has a really complicated view of the guy.  Which will probably be touched on later.  Just small things like that that make this feel more realistic.
Also, note: Xander occasionally uses plural pronouns for himself when he's thinking.  He rarely trips up and uses them out loud, but it's what feels most natural for him since he's hardly alone in his own head.
~Dreamer~

Main Points:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Iron Man Crossover (Self-Made Hero)
Summary: The Initiative makes another enemy.
Word Count: 505
Rating: Gen

          Xander wakes screaming.  There are arms holding him down, which just makes him panic that much more.
          And it is panic.  A panic attack.  All his muscles are freezing up.  He can’t breathe.  His heart rate is too high.  He’s freezing.  He’s choking on his own spit and his brain feels like someone’s electrocuting every one of his synapses.  And he is most certainly going to die.
          “Breathe.  Breathe.”  He focuses on the words.  It’s a lot easier to stop panicking about every single thing when all he has to do is think about breathing in, breathing out, breathing in, breathing out again.
          Eventually his shoulders relax.  He’s tempted to just curl up in a ball but he gets the idea that his captors wouldn’t deal so well.
          “Are you all right, Mr. Harris?”
          “Please, you at least have slightly better manners than the last group of idiots who kidnapped me.  And don’t call me Harris.  It makes me nervous.  I had my name legally changed for a reason, you know.”
          He finally opens his eyes.  A familiar brunet’s staring at him in worry, and he blinks a couple of times to get sure.  Yep, that’s him, although he doesn’t remember the guy wearing the army-like uniform in his presence before.
          Hunky, huh?
          It takes the guy blinking at him, confused, to realize that he said that out loud.
          “Are you okay?” Riley asks uncertainly.
          Knight winces, taking stock.  “’Course.  My day’s just peachy every time someone decides to invite me to these parties so I can make them nice shiny new toys.  It’s not like it gives me bad flashbacks or anything.”  He can tell the guy’s confused, so the best plan is to probably keep him that way.  It might give them a means of escape, or at least more information.  “So, you plan on telling me about your particular super-secret organization and how they’re more awesome than everyone else’s?”
          “The organization isn’t that secret.  The operation is, though.  Without revealing too much, let’s just go with the project name, the Initiative.  We’re researching effective demon-fighting skills, to be able to stop our soldiers from dying in such numbers.”
          He sees the kid on the Humvee, so young.  The bodies.  He flinches.
          “10/10 doctors recommend not dying, yeah.”  He stretches as much as he can, what with the restraints and all.  “Some people say I do my best work under pressure, but they weren’t talking about being held captive against my will.”  He turns over, staring at the wall.  “Warn me before you lot break out the torture porn.  I wanna at least brace myself.”  He nearly panics again on the thought of sleeping in the presence of people holding him hostage, of people he doesn’t trust, but it’s better than sitting here letting anxious thoughts get the better of them.  He and his executive council can come up with a daring, reckless escape plan when he wakes up.  And so he closes his eyes and mimics sleep until his breathing eases out.