Title: Faith and Buffy's Super-Happy-Ending Bedtime Story
Author: DreamSmith
Rating: M
Genre: Drama/Angst/Romance
DLP Category: Other Fandoms (BtVS)
Pairing: Faith/Buffy
Status: . 2 completed book. Book 3 IN-Progress.
Summary:
Faith leads a dark, grim life.

Even after the events in 'Virtue of a Warrior', blood, violence, and the demons that drive her are something she must deal with every single day. Make no mistake; Faith is strong, she can deal, but even a superhuman such as she can be forgiven for occasionally wishing that things had turned out differently.
This story examines Faith's greatest regret. Looking forward, beyond 'Virtue', we see her pause and take a look back; at Sunnydale, at her time there, and at a series of adventures that never happened (not like this, anyway).

But they could have, there COULD have been a happy ending for Faith and Buffy.

And it could have happened just, like, this....

Link: DreamForge

Link: TTH

Firstly, its a "squeal" of sorts to Virtue of A Warrior (which is another Awesome story) but can be read without having touched the former. This is Faith telling an OC how events in SunnyD could have turned out and this is, beyond par, the best Buffy/Faith I have read and pretty much the best romance fic that I have ever seen. The treatment of their relationship, the slow metamorphosis from antagonists to lovers-of-sorts is not only incredibly imaginative, but also beautiful and believable.

I could wax poetic about this. There is no 'animal attraction' that pervades many/most of the genre. No shortcuts are granted to them due to their slayer status. They are still at odds, on different sides of the war, and it affects their relationship deeply and significantly. They don't suddenly become lovers, their characters don't undergo some sudden change in lieu of new feelings: love is obtained through character exploration, and it mirrors the real process so well.

It doesn't really matter whether you are fond of the pairing or not. Try it. This is a superb piece that deserves to be read.

5/5.

Edit: There are some (2~) references to his other stories. But you don't need to have read them to understand this.

Checked by Dark Syaoran, June 5, 2014.
Dead link. Found another source for the story.

 

Nobody's read this?

 

I've been meaning to give it a read =/ I will soon, then edit my post and rate.

 

I'll have a go at it. Though I think I'll read the prequel first.

 

Virtue of a Warrior. Pretty freaking awesome. Violence galore.

 

Not trying to freak you out or anything, but: Hey.

Thanks for the incredibly kind/generous reviewage for the story.
Just so you know, reading that a couple of weeks ago helped kick me into working on this one again. Look for chapter ten (of book three) to show up this weekend.

Oh, and like you say in another thread, my personal site is antique and embarrassing. So if you'd rather, most of my stuff is up at 'Twisting the Hellmouth'.
http://www.tthfanfic.org/AuthorStories-10683/DreamSmith.htm

There are also a few newer stories that aren't on the old site at all.
(Going to update and modernize it at some point)

Again, thank you for the kind words, and for giving a story with a ridiculous name a chance.
^_^

Alan
aka
DreamSmith

 

I read the first part, and despite never having read Buffy fanfiction or even watching a Buffy episode in the last 3 years, it kept me wanting more. Going to read the rest tonight and leave and proper review, but for now I'd give it a 4/5.

Thank God for that.

 

Alright, so I've finished reading what is posted for now.
You've managed to keep me reading a fic in a fandom I never overly cared for before, which is as fluffy as it gets and is about a femslash pairing (not for smut purpose, I mean). Overall, a nice achievement.
It was good, I want moar, but I've got a few complaints :

Man, are you going to write a date at a time until Graduation fucking Day? 'Cause that's going to be one looooong fic if you do. Slow pace is good, but we're talking 3 fics for a 3 days here...

Is it normal that there's been quite a few times that I wanted to struggle Buffy for being (as Faith puts it in your story) such a "High-maintenance girl" ? She gets quite annoying at times, like she's walking all over Faith because she knows she can.

Also, more interaction with other characters would be nice. By all means, get rid of Angel ASAP, but I'd like to see more of the "Scoobies" and eventually their reaction to the whole thing. Or give us a Faith POV maybe ? (not intermission chapters but in the actual story).

All in all, I'll give it a 4/5. And request moar plox.

 

Outstanding.
If you stuck with something that's not your usual cup o' tea (and read two novels' worth of it) and gave it a basically positive review, then I feel like I must be doing something right.

On the issues you bring up... I hear you.

Length: Yeah, that's something I pretty much always do. 'Decompression' much? I've tried to address it before, without a lot of success, but then I also get people who say they don't mind at all, that it's what they expect from me. All I can say is that I'm trying to write more often, post more often, and generally keep things moving so that the multi-book epics will eventually get finished.

High-Maintainence Buffy: Hey, you've never dated a girl who was so hot that you were willing to put up with with a lot of random crap to be with her?
^_^
That's basically where Faith stands in the relationship; she's okay with giving in on the little things because she's really into this blonde chick. On the other hand, she DOES stand her ground repeatedly on the important things (especially on her staying with Team Evil).
Still, it wasn't my intention for the reader to actually be annoyed with Buffy, so I'll bear that in mind and try to tone it down a bit in the future.

(Other) Character Interaction: Basically a result of the Decompression issue. There will definitely be some messy collisions with the rest of the cast (especially Angel), it'll just be a little while before I get there.

Believe me, I do listen to reader comments; so thanks for letting me know what you think.

Moar is forthcoming.
(and in the meantime, feel free to read some of my other stuff at TtH!)

Thanks for the review.

Alan
aka
DreamSmith

Edit: Forgot to reply with mock indignation to the part where you called the story 'As fluffy as it gets'.
Dude. 'Fluffy'? Granted there's girls dating and Buffy thinking about clothes and shoes and crap, but there's also Gunplay, Swordplay, Fistfights and Smackdowns, blood, fire, demons, magic, and, um... tobacco use and underage drinking?

Okay, it's a little bit fluffy. But in a totally badass kind of way.
^_^

 

That's great, my complaint was more about pacing and I was worried it would take you a year to write the end of the date. More good stuff to read is always appreciated.