#no major proofreading we die like spuffy

[disco-tea]

5 headcanons about Spike + Dawn in a medieval AU

OK WAIT THIS IS BRILLIANT. Also this might have turned out much longer and with a little more world building than i meant sksksksks whoops

Our story takes place in the kingdom of Sunnydale that is equal parts magic and violence. It’s a land of goblins and dragons and trolls and fae, and occasionally, beings that are both supernatural and human, known as half-breeds. Legend has it that the kingdom was built upon the gates of hell itself.

The monarch that resides over the kingdom is named Elizabeth, though those in her inner circle often call her “Buffy.” Buffy comes from a long line of monarchs and it’s said that the royal bloodline has been entrusted with guarding the world from the evils that lurk beneath the kingdom of Sunnydale. Monarchs of Sunnydale are expected to be more than just rulers, more than just the law, they’re expected to be warriors, to fight the monsters and demons and armies of hell besides. The next in line is Buffy’s younger sister, Dawn. So we have Queen Elizabeth and Princess Dawn. Buffy has an inner circle of extraordinary people who help her rule and protect her kingdom. An adviser named Rupert, a mage named Willow, a friar named Xander, a changeling switched by the fae at birth named Anya …and her most trusted Knight, Sir William.

William has fought beside his Queen for many years and been through some of the worst battles the kingdom has seen. As a result, it has earned him the special title of the Queen’s Champion. Many of the other knights also call him Spike. Some say it’s because in his early days of knighthood he was a renowned jouster, some say it’s because he once slew a dragon with just a metal spike. Neither are true. As the Queen’s Champion, one of his many duties is to look after the young Princess. He accompanies her on journeys and public outing and all manner of things and if you were to ever spend any prolonged amount of time with them…you might realize how much they look and act alike. You might realize that he is the Princess’ best friend and at times their relationship is almost…familial.

And you see, Sunnydale is a kingdom of mysteries and secrets, and our protagonists are no exception. Each hold secrets, great and small. The Queen has many secrets, one of which is that the royal bloodline is comprised of half-breeds, endowed with strength to help fight and keep the darkness at bay. Her chiefest knight is also a half-breed. And her sister…well, her sister is not her sister at all, but her daughter. Nobody knows the real story, everyone thinks that Princess Dawn was merely sent away in secret while the former king and queen were alive. Sent away at birth to a far away land for protection and education and returned when she was a small child. But that’s not what really happened. The real story goes like this.

Years ago, not long after the King died and Queen briefly ruled alone (then Queen Joyce), Buffy was still a Princess. She never wanted to be the Queen. Didn’t want the burden and the pain. Didn’t want to have to choose a suitor from amongst the royalty. And there were suitors—one from the clan of Finn, a distant king named Angelus, and many others—but in the end, she fell in love with a young and brash knight with a soft heart. A knight named William.

They hated each other at first, always arguing and bringing complaints before the Queen, who bore it with patience and a knowing smile. Buffy hated him all the more when he was assigned to aid her in her quests and journeys and he made a show of hating her for much the same reason. It was a lie. In time they realized they were more alike then they ever could’ve guessed. Hate gave way to friendship and camaraderie and then eventually…love. 

But it could never be, because Elizabeth was royalty and she must marry royalty and he was just a knight, and— the secrets of the crown notwithstanding—a half-breed knight to boot. Still, that didn’t stop them from being in love, no matter how much they fought it. Despite the dangers and potential scandal, The Queen herself did very little to discourage it once she found out, having spent her life married to a man she didn’t love all because she had caved to her own parents demands.

Eventually, William and Elizabeth were married in secret and not long later…they had a daughter. A daughter named Dawn. Shortly before the Queen died, she helped them fabricate a story and told the entire kingdom that Dawn was a lost princess of the now deceased king and queen, finally brought home at last. Very few people actually know the truth, not even Dawn herself.

They continued that way for many years. That is until one fateful day…Elizabeth died in battle. William blamed himself, wished that he could follow his queen and wife to her grave. But he couldn’t, because there was a new queen now, one so young and broken-hearted. One who had no family left, save him, but she didn’t even know that.

Queen Dawn was coronated at only 14 years old. She was so young and scared, and barely had time to change out of her funeral clothes before the kingdom was thrusting a crown upon her head, expecting wisdom and strength and perfection from her, just as they had her sister before her. But through it all, a Knight was by her side. To keep her safe, give her strength, protect her from the many assassination attempts that followed. And often, to make her laugh when no one was looking. Because unlike the council or advisors or subjects, he hadn’t forgotten that she was still just a child…his child.

Five headcanons game

[disco-tea]

Spuffy + ballet AU

I’m sorry, I rotated this in my head for so long but my brain just completely blue screened and the only thing that was in it was a flashing error message that said “he was a punk, she did ballet”

For context this is largely set in 2x06 “Halloween,” they are still very much in their enemies phase but this would be an episode that would allow for some banter. Also I thought this would be a good place to put it, particularly since Buffy’s mindset about ballet in this au lines up with her issues in this episode, which is she doesn’t get to be a normal girl who can do normal girl things. Disclaimer: I know next to nothing about ballet except what I’ve picked up over the years and also I watched the Nutcracker exactly once.

AU prompts

When Buffy Summers was eight years old, she took her first ballet lesson.

It was fun and little Buffy liked it well enough. She would diligently practice her poses (despite her mildly clumsy nature), she thought “tutu” was a funny word, and she enjoyed dressing up and putting on a show for her parents at recitals.

When Buffy Summers was 15 years old, she was called as a Slayer and sentenced to a short life of violence and death.

It’s funny the things that become important to you after going through a world-shattering change like that. It’s funny the ways you decide to dig your heels in and fight it.

For Buffy, ballet was one of them.

It didn’t matter how many times she was told her sacred duty should always be her first priority and responsibility. It didn’t matter that she eventually had to quit the cheer squad. It didn’t matter how chaotic her life got or how many hours of sleep she lost to post-midnight patrols at the cemetery. She refused to give up her ballet. Refused to be late for any lessons or recitals. She even refused to miss Hermery’s production of The Nutcracker, even though she’d already performed in the ballet once before and Merrick said she had important training to do.

It was strange, the way she found herself clinging to the art in a way she never quite had before. She didn’t intend to be a ballerina. Didn’t plan to go to a fancy dance school. She never really considered it before, but she certainly didn’t now. Not when there was no point in dreaming about any sort of future at all.

No, there was no white picket fence in the cards. No fantasies of acceptance letters from her dream college. No far-flung future where she’d be a mom or a fun aunt or a grandma. There was only blood and fighting and the very real probability that she’d punch her ticket before her 18th birthday.

Still, she loved her ballet. Loved the way that when she was dancing or practicing her moves…she didn’t feel like the Slayer. She didn’t feel like somebody who spent their nights covered in corpse dust and their free time whittling stakes and was so strong that, if they weren’t careful, they could break a bone while giving a hug. She didn’t feel like any of those things.

She felt like a girl. A normal girl who did ballet and moved like she could be light and delicate. A little girl in a tutu who sat down on the floor with her mom and let her braid her hair…who waved at her parents from the stage a few hours later. Maybe it was juvenile, maybe it was naive or a waste of precious time. Buffy didn’t care. It mattered to her and she wasn’t about to give it up.

And she didn’t. She didn’t quit even as she was being hunted by Lothos or when Merrick died or even when she got kicked out of school because she lit a gym full of vampires on fire.

She moved to Sunnydale and one of the first things she did was sign up for ballet. She ran from her calling and it caught up to her, but still, she attended her dance classes. She faced the Master, she saved the world…she died in her pristine white Spring Fling dress, the edges stained and torn.

Still, she signed up again the next semester.

Which brought Buffy to where she was now: ducking into class just in time to avoid being forcibly volunteered by Principal Snyder to chaperone trick-or-treaters. Willow and Xander hadn’t been so lucky.

But Buffy was just a little faster, and it was a good thing too, because Halloween was supposed to be a Slayer’s night off and tonight was the final rehearsal for her class’s performance of Giselle.

Buffy needed this, she had decided. After her mildly disastrous almost-date with Angel and the general direction her life seemed to be going…she needed a night away from it all. A night where she didn't have to think about ambush tactics or beheadings. A night without vampires or demons or graveyards or anything really, except her costume for the show and her lucky ballet slippers.

And that’s how it had gone…for the first half anyway.

She’d seen off her friends, put on her outfit for the rehearsal, and asked her mom to braid her hair for the first time in two years.

Out of sheer habit, Buffy found herself holding a stake before she walked out of her room. She stared down at it for a long moment, contemplating. She considered leaving it…she really did. There was no point. She didn’t need it. She didn’t want to need it.

She ended up tucking it into the lining of her costume regardless, the nagging feeling in her gut refusing to leave her be until she did.

After that, she joined the rest of her class, worked through all her choreography, and nailed all her cues. Buffy danced her heart out and she walked away from the rehearsal feeling accomplished and confident. (And if there was excess energy still buzzing beneath her skin…one she usually relieved by slaying…she was determined to ignore it.)

Buffy walked across the parking lot with her bag slung over her shoulder and a spring in her step.

The Slayer felt what happened next more than she truly saw it; a combination of natural instinct and training. She dodged the first blow before it even connected, shifting her weight around and slamming her fist square into her attacker’s nose before she even knew who her attacker was.

It was a mop of bleached blond hair that reeled back, a string of accented curses following shortly after. Buffy knew immediately who it was. Maybe she should’ve been scared, but more than anything she was suddenly very very annoyed.

It was her night off, damn it.

A low growl escaped the punkish vampire as he clutched his nose and glared back at her, yellow eyes reflecting both anger and confusion.

“Sodding hell!” he blurted, pulling his hand back to check for a bloody nose. “This isn’t right, you’re supposed to be—“

“Oh? Oh, I’m sorry, you think this isn’t right?!” Buffy suddenly shouted back, surprising him with the intensity. “It is one thing to crash my parent-teacher night, it’s another thing entirely to bother me right now! I thought you freaks were supposed to stay in tonight!”

“Yeah, well, tell that to the beasties mucking up the entire town.”

Buffy froze, a wave of cold dread and anger sweeping over her. She let her backpack drop off her shoulder onto the pavement and took a bold and threatening step toward him.

“What the hell did you do?” She gritted out.

“Ah, ah, ah,” he put his hands up, looking all too pleased to be accused. “Not my doing, love, just takin’ advantage.”

“Of what?”

He tilted his head to the side, observing her. “You really don’t know.”

She shot him a withering look, one that had reduced fledges to begging for mercy.

He just smiled through his fangs.

“Some witch or chaos agent or some rot thought it’d be funny to turn your Sunnyhell populace into their costumes this year,” he explained.

“I just don’t get why you’re not all…I dunno—“ he waved his hand, gesturing to all of her, “—unslayer-like.”

Buffy wasn’t sure why she suddenly felt offended, but she did.

“This isn’t a Halloween costume!”

His eyebrows shot up, almost surprised.

“Oh.”

“What do you mean, ‘oh’?”

“Just never met a Slayer who was a ballerina before, is all.”

Buffy crossed her arms, feeling a little ridiculous to even be having this conversation.

“Is there something wrong with that? Is that like against the Slayer code or something?”

His scarred eyebrow shot up, clearly amused by her snippy tone.

“On the contrary, I think it suits you,” he smiled lightly, tilting his head and letting his eyes roam her outfit.

Buffy wasn’t sure what she was feeling in that moment, but she knew she needed to kill him for it. Whatever it was.

She opened her mouth to let out a retort, but he wasn’t paying attention. His gaze had stop at her feet and ankles, staring down at her laced slippers as if they held some great mystery.

“Hey!” She yelled, snapping her fingers. “Hello? Earth to rock band reject?”

He jumped a little, like he’d gotten lost in thought.

“What the hel—“

“Is it true ballerinas have wood in their shoes?” He cut her off, a note of genuine curiosity in his voice.

After she got past the initial surprise of such an offhand question, Buffy almost laughed.

“What’s a matter, Spike, scared of some slippers?” She taunted.

He let out a scoffing laugh, his tongue absently running along the point of one of his fangs. “Hardly.”

There was a pause, and Buffy wasn’t sure why, but she found herself compelled to answer him. It was stupid; it wasn’t like she owed him anything. But he seemed genuinely curious and maybe it was just that neither of her Watchers nor most of the normal people in her life cared all that much about her dancing or what it entailed. Let alone the vampires.

“It’s not wood. It’s paper and glue.”

“Huh.” He made a perplexed noise in the back of his throat, like it intrigued him.

“Now this on the other hand,” Buffy added, producing a stake from the lining of her costume.

He grinned at that, wide and all fangs, a glint finding its way into his eyes.

“Ya know, Slayer, I’m actually glad you didn’t get turned into some dainty princess or red riding hood or some such. Woulda ruined the dance.”

Buffy scoffed in disbelief.

“You think we’re dancing?”

“You’re the professional, you tell me,” he replied and then threw himself into the fight that had been inevitable since the moment he arrived.

[disco-tea]

i was tagged by @alittlemoretime to share a snippet of my WIP. I’ve got 3 unposted/unedited chapters and these are from the latest one. Lots of moments with Spike and Dawn but also…Spike and Buffy 👀. Which I think is v v impressive since she is dead in my fic sksksj. Also imma post two snippets because why not lol

One:

Despite his reaction, all Spike could do was look at her sadly, wishing with everything he had that he could change that night, change his words, even if he was telling the truth.

“It wasn’t a good day,” his voice came out low and hoarse, his throat feeling like he gargled a cup of glass. “It was the worst day of my life.”

Buffy looked away then, but her grip on his arm tightened and made the leather creak, almost as if she were trying to comfort him. “I know,” she spoke softly, understandingly.

Two:

Dawn rolled eyes, putting her head back down onto his shoulder a little harder than needed. “Ass,” she grumbled.

“Ass who loves you,” he reminded, letting her get comfortable before kissing the top of her head.

If you want: @swinging-stars-from-satellites @agentbluefox and @summers-pratt (idk if you technically have a WIP but??)

Also imma plug in a link here because these snippets are for an ongoing story 🙈