Spinoff: Rupert Giles, The Bookstore Chronicles
This is for a challenge at wlreunion -- a spin-off from a Whedon show. I always liked the idea of Giles going back to England and living a semi-peaceful life, running his own bookstore. So...introducing that quirky, magical and mystical dramedy:
After the battle of Sunnydale, Rupert Giles quit trying to save the world, and retired near his birthplace in in a small village outside London to realize one of his lifelong dreams: to open a bookstore. In honor of the happiest and most tragic time of his life, he named the bookstore Sunnydale. He determined that the bookstore would cater to his own personal interests: the history of RAF fighter pilots, gardening, and rock 'n' roll. And if there was a special section behind the curtain of magic, demonology, spells, and potions, who would be the wiser?
Ah, one cannot escape one's fate, and Giles's fate is to be surrounded by magical possibilities and evil forces--this time, in the books and book lovers around him. Each week, a book opens, and an adventure spins out...sometimes circling around visitors to the town, and sometimes on the unusual village residents. Starting with one of his most ardent customers...
Simone is a local lady of undetermined means. She's an avid gardener, which seems to be her main interest at the bookstore, but Rupert often finds her behind the curtain opening books on witchcraft and the phases of the moon. He's intrigued by her, and suspects she has a romantic interest in him. However, he's also has found himself interested in...
No-nonsense Police Chief Agatha Sayers, who handles local crime and safety with aplomb. Former military herself, her reading tends more toward WWII, and he is happy to help her find old photos from that era for her collection. She's parried any attempts at flirting, though, and seems to spend most of her leisure time in the company of...
Town Mayor Maya (yes, it's a local pleasantry) Dante brightly manages the town's issues with benevolence and practicality. She's a latecomer to the village--in fact, she came because of Agatha; they met in the service, and when the former mayor died--in the bookstore, actually, before Giles bought it--she'd been his Chief of Staff, and was voted in immediately. She's also doing research on the history of the village in its witchcraft days--thus bringing her behind the canvas curtain at Sunnydale Books. She's also a mentor of sorts to...
Pynchon came to town as part of a non-profit teaching placement, and decided to stay on to teach the third through fifth-years in the village school. He seems to have a particular, personal interest in the RAF, and spends weekends exploring local historical crash-sites, in between hanging out at the pub and conversing avidly with the proprietor....
Zora is a former American rock musician who made a small killing on a couple of albums and used it to buy the pub, where she serves the local and plays guitar on weekends. Rupert can occasionally be talked into joining her in a song or two, and they pass time at the bookstore talking vinyl. Yet her backstory is a bit of a mystery, that may unfold over the course of time.
As will many more...