To contrast the last post, here are five fics of varying degrees of seriousness that I liked.
What if? by
mej-lj. The Council is very good at finding and training girls. What happens to all the ones who aren't chosen?
Giles and the Mountain by
rebcake. I think someone else recced this too, but it's so good it deserves to be read again. A young Giles and a friend go mountaineering, with not exactly hilarious consequences.
Putting the Damage On by
carlyinrome. Post-NFA, in the ruins of LA, Faith stumbles across a machine, the size of a typewriter. Faith/Illyria.
Wrong by
leni_ba. Dawn succeeds in bringing Joyce back from the dead... What does "came back wrong" even look like, really?
Call and Response by
brutti_ma_buoni. If Fred was in Wesley's spot... Would she have been able to let Lilah burn? Fred/Lilah.