Ideas Dump
The last couple of weeks have been pretty sucktastic and I can't say I want to dwell on them, so instead I am going to share with you the contents of a notebook that I have mentally entitled Fics I Wish Existed But Don't Want To Write (But Maybe I'll Write When I've Finished Soul But Probably Not).
1. The one that charts Spike's relationship with Joyce [.....]through a series of vignettes in which he just happens to bump into her around town and/or show up for hot chocolate. And at frst he just tells himself he's using her for intel on the slayer, and then it's a way to get close to the object of his bad-wrong-lusty feelings. But then, she's also quite good for getting caught up on Passions when he's missed it, and as it turns out she's actually pleasant to him and makes a good cuppa, and of course he ends up liking her independent of his designs on Buffy. There would be some occasional but highly entertaining Dawn interruption of the "grown up" (lol) time. The final vignette would show how he mourned her, like watching Passions while getting sloshed in her honour.
2. The Gound Hog Day AU [I can't believe I haven't come across this one already]I can't believe I haven't come across this one already but it's one of my favourite fandom staples. It could be either of them stuck in the loop, but they don't get to break the cycle until they overcome their own issues/win the other's heart.
2A. The Seeing Red Ground Hod Day AU Special [warnings for episode content etc.]in which Spike has to relive that day over and over until he gets it right (obvs). Bonus points if the bathroom 'event' happened after mignight so it's part of the same day as the shooting, which Spike can also then (eventually) prevent and/or be there to help with the aftermath and dark!Willow. But he also has to do the personal stuff, like not just not hurt Buffy, but get it right with her, like showing her how unfair it was of her to say she couldn't trust him...
Okay, I've given this one a lot of thought in those idle pre-sleep hours, so here is a potential scenario. Dawn has been dumped at Spike's crypt with Clem and is poking through the half-repaired lower level. In a fit of teenage pique she decides she hates him for leaving them to this mess just because he cocked things up with Buffy. She wishes (in her head of course, because she's learnt her lesson) that he was there to help sort things out, and Anya hears her across town, and sees a way to end this before it starts. It'll mean bending the rules to grant the wish, but hey, she knows by now that Willow's going to do something really bad so things can't get much worse than they already are. So, the first cycle re-starts the day from midnight and Spike wakes up back in his crypt, still fuelled by rage and shame, and hops straight back on his bike. The next cycle, same thing, much frustration and drunkenness. The next cycle, he finds out what would've happened without him, ie Buffy getting shot. Gradually, and with many false steps along the way, he pieces together more and more information until he can: get Buffy to admit she has feelings for him without losing his head and assaulting her; demonstrate to her that actually she does trust him, whether she wants to admit it or not; prevent Warren's shooting of Tara (and Buffy) so that Willow doesn't go off the deep end; accept that killing Warren before he shoot is not an acceptable alternative to Buffy; get creative in his solution; make things up with Dawn for being absent more of the previous years; accept that Buffy needs space to deal with the realisation that she actually does have feelings for him (which, lbr, is what he was doing beforehand anyway, so not a big issue, esp now as there's hope); save the day and win the girl. Easy!
3. The one where Buffy starts doing a Time Traveller's Wife impression [minus the squick-worthy gender politics ofc] after getting hit by some demon mojo, and starts going back in time and having late night conversations with her wee!bb!self and also early!evil!Spike (who in her timeline, she still thinks is dead). There would be mucho angst and humour as she tries to deal with a Spike who hates her and/or doesn't know her yet, a bb!Buffy who is pretty intense about knowing her future, and the ongoing worry that every time she skips back to her own time she'll have changed the future.
4. The one where early S4 Buffy and Spike accidentally calim each other during a fight [no wait bear with me here...]. I have nothing against claim fics per se, but what bugs me is how often the claiming is done spur of the moment, usually during or just after the very first time they've had sex. Because that is, of course, an excellent way of ensuring relationship longevity. So this fic would be part satire, part serious, part humour (because I assure you, this scenario is ridiculously funny in my head). Basically they're having a full on drag down, knock out fight and Spike does something like lick her blood off his knuckles and tells a minion "leave her, she's mine", which Buffy confirms with a "I'd rather be fighting you anyway" type comment and lo! They're bonded for all eternity. WHOOPS. Heh heh heh. So then they'd have to deal with all those lovely cliches, like the compulsion to be near each other despite the seething hatred, how only physical contact soothes the symptoms, how they can start to feel each other's feelings etc. Both of them would end up having to move back into the Revello Drive house to satisfy the need to be close/in contact while the gang tries to solve the issue. There is also a strong sexual compulsion that they're both fighting tooth and nail because, gross, though Spike has fewer inhibitions about the deviant nature of it, having done some pretty shit over the last century. And in fact, the taboo nature of it actually starts to become appealing, and really, the Slayer's not so bad to look at even if she is a raging bitch, and whoa, that reciprocal sensation when he does something to make her happy is weirdly addictive, and OH GOD NO, PLEASE NO. As for the ending, I can't decide if I would have the claim be broken to give them the chance to choose to be together, or to stick with the full-on trope satire and make them stay bonded for infinity, meaning they just have to keep on dealing with it and dealing with it until they can reach a compromise (yanno, like in real relationships) or they kill each other. Probably not that last one. Bonus points for a scene in the kitchen where Spike is giving Buffy the come on, back her up against the counter and getting all in her personal space while she's weakly telling him 'no' when Joyce walks in on them and gives Spike a schooling on 'no means no', and he's forced to realise that regardless of whether her body is saying yes, if he pushes it when her mouth is saying no it's only going to fuel the resentment fires. Bonus bonus points if Dawn is present.
Any and all of these are free to a good home, should you feel so inclined ;) Off to my music lesson now, and then cinema with the hubs. If you tell me I need to write any of these myself I will come at you with an axe. Kisses!
1. The one that charts Spike's relationship with Joyce [.....]through a series of vignettes in which he just happens to bump into her around town and/or show up for hot chocolate. And at frst he just tells himself he's using her for intel on the slayer, and then it's a way to get close to the object of his bad-wrong-lusty feelings. But then, she's also quite good for getting caught up on Passions when he's missed it, and as it turns out she's actually pleasant to him and makes a good cuppa, and of course he ends up liking her independent of his designs on Buffy. There would be some occasional but highly entertaining Dawn interruption of the "grown up" (lol) time. The final vignette would show how he mourned her, like watching Passions while getting sloshed in her honour.
2. The Gound Hog Day AU [I can't believe I haven't come across this one already]I can't believe I haven't come across this one already but it's one of my favourite fandom staples. It could be either of them stuck in the loop, but they don't get to break the cycle until they overcome their own issues/win the other's heart.
2A. The Seeing Red Ground Hod Day AU Special [warnings for episode content etc.]in which Spike has to relive that day over and over until he gets it right (obvs). Bonus points if the bathroom 'event' happened after mignight so it's part of the same day as the shooting, which Spike can also then (eventually) prevent and/or be there to help with the aftermath and dark!Willow. But he also has to do the personal stuff, like not just not hurt Buffy, but get it right with her, like showing her how unfair it was of her to say she couldn't trust him...
Okay, I've given this one a lot of thought in those idle pre-sleep hours, so here is a potential scenario. Dawn has been dumped at Spike's crypt with Clem and is poking through the half-repaired lower level. In a fit of teenage pique she decides she hates him for leaving them to this mess just because he cocked things up with Buffy. She wishes (in her head of course, because she's learnt her lesson) that he was there to help sort things out, and Anya hears her across town, and sees a way to end this before it starts. It'll mean bending the rules to grant the wish, but hey, she knows by now that Willow's going to do something really bad so things can't get much worse than they already are. So, the first cycle re-starts the day from midnight and Spike wakes up back in his crypt, still fuelled by rage and shame, and hops straight back on his bike. The next cycle, same thing, much frustration and drunkenness. The next cycle, he finds out what would've happened without him, ie Buffy getting shot. Gradually, and with many false steps along the way, he pieces together more and more information until he can: get Buffy to admit she has feelings for him without losing his head and assaulting her; demonstrate to her that actually she does trust him, whether she wants to admit it or not; prevent Warren's shooting of Tara (and Buffy) so that Willow doesn't go off the deep end; accept that killing Warren before he shoot is not an acceptable alternative to Buffy; get creative in his solution; make things up with Dawn for being absent more of the previous years; accept that Buffy needs space to deal with the realisation that she actually does have feelings for him (which, lbr, is what he was doing beforehand anyway, so not a big issue, esp now as there's hope); save the day and win the girl. Easy!
3. The one where Buffy starts doing a Time Traveller's Wife impression [minus the squick-worthy gender politics ofc] after getting hit by some demon mojo, and starts going back in time and having late night conversations with her wee!bb!self and also early!evil!Spike (who in her timeline, she still thinks is dead). There would be mucho angst and humour as she tries to deal with a Spike who hates her and/or doesn't know her yet, a bb!Buffy who is pretty intense about knowing her future, and the ongoing worry that every time she skips back to her own time she'll have changed the future.
4. The one where early S4 Buffy and Spike accidentally calim each other during a fight [no wait bear with me here...]. I have nothing against claim fics per se, but what bugs me is how often the claiming is done spur of the moment, usually during or just after the very first time they've had sex. Because that is, of course, an excellent way of ensuring relationship longevity. So this fic would be part satire, part serious, part humour (because I assure you, this scenario is ridiculously funny in my head). Basically they're having a full on drag down, knock out fight and Spike does something like lick her blood off his knuckles and tells a minion "leave her, she's mine", which Buffy confirms with a "I'd rather be fighting you anyway" type comment and lo! They're bonded for all eternity. WHOOPS. Heh heh heh. So then they'd have to deal with all those lovely cliches, like the compulsion to be near each other despite the seething hatred, how only physical contact soothes the symptoms, how they can start to feel each other's feelings etc. Both of them would end up having to move back into the Revello Drive house to satisfy the need to be close/in contact while the gang tries to solve the issue. There is also a strong sexual compulsion that they're both fighting tooth and nail because, gross, though Spike has fewer inhibitions about the deviant nature of it, having done some pretty shit over the last century. And in fact, the taboo nature of it actually starts to become appealing, and really, the Slayer's not so bad to look at even if she is a raging bitch, and whoa, that reciprocal sensation when he does something to make her happy is weirdly addictive, and OH GOD NO, PLEASE NO. As for the ending, I can't decide if I would have the claim be broken to give them the chance to choose to be together, or to stick with the full-on trope satire and make them stay bonded for infinity, meaning they just have to keep on dealing with it and dealing with it until they can reach a compromise (yanno, like in real relationships) or they kill each other. Probably not that last one. Bonus points for a scene in the kitchen where Spike is giving Buffy the come on, back her up against the counter and getting all in her personal space while she's weakly telling him 'no' when Joyce walks in on them and gives Spike a schooling on 'no means no', and he's forced to realise that regardless of whether her body is saying yes, if he pushes it when her mouth is saying no it's only going to fuel the resentment fires. Bonus bonus points if Dawn is present.
Any and all of these are free to a good home, should you feel so inclined ;) Off to my music lesson now, and then cinema with the hubs. If you tell me I need to write any of these myself I will come at you with an axe. Kisses!