Round 4.1 of the Circle of Friends Remix is now open for reading at cof_remix

[evil_little_dog]

So, go check it out!

Title: Normal Days (The ‘Hello Operator, Give Me Number Nine’ Remix)
Author: evil_little_dog
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Rating: Teenish
Disclaimer: Joss never writes, he never calls; I’m still going to play with his toys, even if they’re not mine.
Original Story: Phone Call, by sroni.

Comments

[evil_little_dog]

Thank you! It'd certainly be a question I'd want to know the answer to, after all.

[velvetwhip]

I like this. Excellent little tale you gave us.

Gabrielle

[evil_little_dog]

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[sroni]

I love it! That's one of the drabbles I wrote that I've always been interested in the surroundings of, so I'm really excited to see it tackled in this way.

I like how you've portrayed Sam and Riley's relationship. I'm just seriously loving this story, and I'll try to gush more about it tomorrow.

[evil_little_dog]

Thank you, I'm really glad you like it! It was hard for me to make a choice on which story to remix in your collection. I'm glad I picked one that you wanted to know more about!

[evil_little_dog]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[aadler]

The ease we can see between your Riley and Sam here makes a pointed contrast to the much darker scenario that (following velvetwhip’s original) I depicted in my own remix, a blend of smooth partnership and customary mild exasperation. The notion of kevlar diffusing direct force at least to the extent of avoiding broken bones is certainly plausible, but Riley’s stunned attempts to not show the effects come across as authentic and agonizing. (He’s a big guy, so Sam must got accustomed to smacking him hard, even in such a quasi-affectionate gesture, to produce that kind of result without intending it.)

So, yes, “normal” for these two wouldn’t match what you or I would mean by the word … but of course in any operation that even tangentially intersected with Buffy, the definition is going to be stretched a lot further. Welcome to the no-longer-Hellmouth, guys.

[evil_little_dog]

I really liked the ease that Riley and Sam seemed to have with one another in one of the BtVS/AtS crossover novels. That's kind of where I took this relationship from, with a little bit of added stuff from the relationship I had with a couple of my guy friends over the years - including the smacking with the back of my hand on their ribs.

I wanted to give someone a normal-ish relationship in this 'verse, before I tore it to bits.

[aadler]

My favorite depictions of Sam and Riley are honorh’s “Miss Perfect”, and “Friends and Favors” (listed under Phouka but with a note that her brother actually wrote it). The Riley/Sam stuff only comes at the very end of “Friends and Favors”, but I liked the way that was shown.