#uc sunnydale

[buffyangelscreens]

[secretlyasummers]

Tiny baby S3 Dawn would have thought Faith is the coolest person in the world. She also would have bullied Buffy relentlessly for not being as cool as Faith.

Canon queer ally Dawn, she'd ship Fuffy.

[officialrapunzelfitzherbert]

college professors on tv are so silly like buffys history prof is getting so mad that she has Theories meanwhile in any actual undergrad setting they would just be happy that someone is actually participating and showing any interest in the material

[buffysummers]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Alphabet ↳ U ✫ UC Sunnydale

[prose-for-hire]

Should I Stay or Should I Go? (Part Three)

Part One // Part two // Part Four

Pairing: Spike x Giles!reader

Part three of four 💖

Warning: reader drinks/smokes, difficult relationship with Giles and not friends with Buffy.

He had been searching for you when you hadn’t returned, his face steeped in worry as he stormed through the night to find you. Maybe you had got lost or eaten in that annoying human way. He cared for you deeply. He couldn’t help it and as he walked through Sunnydale until the light started to singe his body, he knew that he couldn’t fight his feelings anymore.

It had been five days. He had caught your scent around the UC Sunnydale campus but he kept losing it in certain places. He needed to see you, needed to make sure that you were okay.

He had been sleeping in your bed clinging to your clothes, bathing in your scent. Wishing he could have you back by his side again, where he was more sure each day that you truly belonged. He wished to have you pressed against him again, cradle you in his arms, grip your body in his bed.

He had found you five days later by chance, stalking into the Bronze looking for something to pass the time. His mind on you but he had little hope that you would appear before him. He was even beginning to worry he had dreamt you up.

Until, well, there you were. Stood at the side of the Bronze looking miserable as you swirled your drink around. You were talking to a redhead who looked a little exhausted by your company.

He stepped back, watching you intently as if you were a mirage. He wanted to reach out and touch you so badly but he was afraid you may be a cruel illusion. He had looked for you for days, he had worried sick about you.

From the dark he overheard your conversation, you had left because of the kiss. It had overwhelmed you as much as you had wanted to stay in the moment forever.

“I just don’t know… should I go? Should I stay?” You asked, not for the first time since you had started talking to her.

“I, uh, I’m still not sure Spike is exactly boyfriend material”

“I’m not trying to make a blanket out of him, Will” You said smiling softly at the idea of Spike wrapping his arms around you.

Your indecision was bugging even yourself as you spoke about it for the millionth time. Willow was at a loss as to what to say other than that Spike was very dangerous and ultimately evil. You were already way past that and had seen the good in him as well as the bad. You liked both but you knew that this would sever any chance at reconciling with your Dad.

“Embarrassed, is that it?” Spike asked, his eyes not meeting yours as he stepped from the shadows. His eyes were haunted by a situation much like this, some decades earlier. He felt it, the rejection, the pain. It was so acute and written on his face so clearly that you could almost feel it yourself.

“Spike, it’s not like that, I-”

“You used me for a cheap thrill and then went toddling back to your boring little life livin’ under Daddy’s thumb”

He stormed out, lighting up a cigarette as he walked, his duster whipping around him as he walked into the street. You ran after him, ignoring his muttering about not even getting to the thrilling part.

You grabbed his shoulder and he let you turn him to face you. He was agonisingly close, you even found his frown cute. His anger desirable. You wanted to kiss his pain away, remove the furrow from his brow. Offer up any thrill that he could possibly want.

“If you don’t want me then bloody well let me free” He moved as if to push past you but you took his hand. With your touch he softened, even slightly.

“I was scared, Spike”

“Now you find the time to bloody fear me”

“It’s just, I was trained from a child to be a Watcher and as much as I never cared for it, things like that are kinda difficult to unlearn. Suddenly I was ten years old again being screamed at by some stuffy Watchers when I started to empathise with one of the vampires in our case studies.”

You had been wrestling with your own morality. It was a battle you could never win when kissing Spike felt so right but everything you had been taught until now had told you it was so wrong.

He nodded, understanding that where you come from can impact your life, and even your un-life. He was still reeling from the rejection, it had hurt in a way that he hadn’t felt since he was human. He offered you a smoke, you took it, leaning into him as he flicked his lighter on for you. Your eyes met, deepening your gaze as you inhaled the thick smoke.

Nothing was said in this time, though it lasted for an age, something unspoken was communicated. Shared.

He lowered himself, his duster sliding from his shoulder slightly as he knelt on the floor his cigarette bobbing from his lips as he spoke, “I’m on my knees here, pet, I can’t lose you. Love like this comes once an eternity.”

“Love?”

You reached for him, lowering yourself to kneel with him, your hands clasping his after flicking your cigarette away. You couldn’t help the way your doubts creeped into your head, how your upbringing made you question every move that you made in terms of good and evil.

“Where do we go from here?”

“Come home?”

You had barely nodded before he slammed his lips against yours, your knees resting uncomfortably on the tarmac, but all you could think about was the way he felt against you. The urgency in which he kissed, the way he cradled your face in his hands, caressed your skin. He felt divine beneath your hands, his lips felt heavenly on yours.

How could anything about this be wrong?

You leaned against him, your forehead pressed against his as you panted trying to regain your composure. You stayed like that for a while in the dark alley before you took his hand again and walked towards your shared crypt.

From there, you took things slow. Much slower than either of you would like. You often fell asleep against him in the evenings and shared such deep confessions. Of your pasts, of your feelings for the other.

After a week of settling back into your home, you had an unwelcome houseguest. And she didn’t even bring a home-warming gift.

Buffy slammed the door to your crypt so hard that it almost came clean off its hinges. She came to tell you that your father had been turned into some demon by Ethan Rayne and she wanted to make sure that you knew that he was okay. That he was shaken but unharmed and would perhaps appreciate a visit from his family.

You mumbled something about going to visit sometime but realised this was the wrong decision. Buffy saw this as an opportunity to give you some (again, unwelcome) advice.

“Look, y/n, as a friend-”

“We were never really friends, Buffy”

The young girl looked surprisingly hurt, perhaps she had truly seen you as a friend and you had misjudged her. She had, of course, never been anything other than pleasant to you. You had just allowed your jealousies to fester beyond control. Plus she was self-righteous in a kind of annoying way.

“Well, friend or not I care about you because I care about Giles. Grow up, y/n, the rebel act was kinda last season. He misses you”

“He made it very clear that I’m not welcome, why would him letting Ethan make him all Fyarl-y make a difference?”

“You can’t be happy here, with him” she visibly shuddered as he walked up to join you from the lower level of the crypt. You appreciated that you got a glimpse of his athletic torso beneath his unbuttoned red shirt.

He slung an arm around you, squeezing your shoulder and whispering in your ear. You were too comfortable together and Buffy looked as if it made her physically sick. She threatened Spike vaguely, gave you another warning and then with a hair flip she stormed back out of the crypt and slammed the door shut behind her.

The thing that irritated you the most was that she genuinely thought she was ‘saving you from yourself’. That you had taken the wrong path. That the love, this amazing and beautiful feeling that you had never quite felt anything like before, was somehow wrong. Or gross. Or evil.

Which had fed into your thoughts the first time you had been close to Spike. You wouldn’t let it happen again. You hated the distance. The way his absence had physically pained you.

Spike guided you back down to the his bedroom, pressing soft kisses against your jaw, nipping at your neck and caressing his lips down your chest. He wanted you all to himself, he wouldn’t let you go again. Not now he knew how good life could be with you in it. By his side, in his bed.

By late afternoon you were lying on your side in his bed, watching him writing in a notebook. Papers littered the floor of the crypt. He hadn’t had such inspiration since he was human. You had brought him back to life. Revived him.

“Did you mean it, when you said you loved me?” You asked softly, your fingers trailing softly against his muscled arm.

“Never meant anything more,”

He had, of course, noted that you hadn’t said it to him. It stung a little but he would rather have you by his side even if you didn’t love him than not at all. He knew you cared for him, of course. Knew that you felt safe with him. Knew that he would kill any man, demon or slayer that came anywhere near you.

He put his writing down, shifting himself and burying his face into the crook of your neck. He would give anything to hear you say it.

“Say you’re mine, love, and I’ll be here until the end of time,” He pleaded between landing slow kisses against your exposed skin.

“I love you, Spike, I think… I think I’ve always been yours,” You whispered as if you were afraid he might overhear.

He smirked darkly, his fangs bared and his face morphed from beyond your line of vision. Your eyes were closed, enjoying his touch. He suddenly wrenched your head to the side, exposing your neck further.  

He could feel your pulse thrumming faster now.

He swallowed thickly,  before propelling himself towards your neck, ignoring the firing from his chip as he held you in place…

[whatisyourchildhoodtrauma]

Fuffy AU: Faith attends UC Sunnydale

[am-i-the-one]

Smoking and Vampires Kill (Reader x Spike)

'A sigh escaped your mouth as you remember the feeling of being kissed by Spike and exhaling smoke. You knew if you didn't quit smoking and break up with Spike they would have both killed you in the end.'

Summary: Your vampire ex-boyfriend visits your house when he hears you've quit smoking to try and tempt you into giving in to both.

Word Count: 2048

Ao3 link: Ao3

At midnight on New Year's Eve you walked straight into the bathroom and flushed your last pack of cigarettes. While your heart leapt up into your throat for an instant as the panic started you breathed out a sigh of relief. Trembling, you washed your hands and went to go re-join the party and find your new boyfriend in the crowd.

It's Winter break and you've been back home from studying at UC Sunnydale for two weeks now. Coincidently, that's also the number of days gone without smoking. Counting them off like prison scratches on the wall. You've always wanted to quit smoking and it didn't help when you met Spike who would chain-smoke indefinitely without the death anxiety, for obvious reasons. You first met Spike outside the Bronze one evening when he asked you for a light. Not thinking anything of it, you said he could keep it remembering all the Clippers in your draw at home. It was a novelty Halloween design with a vampire motif and the words 'blood sucker' wrapped around it. You never liked it, vampires were never your favourite monster. He looked at you credulously, with his eyes opened and slightly frowning at the suggestion. His facial expression soon relaxed and he thanked you and said he'd maybe see you inside. You thought he was strange as he blew smoke rings and poked is finger through them while looking up wistfully at the night sky.

You would only ever see him loitering outside the Bronze back alley. Since you spent half the night going inside and outside to smoke you'd end up catching him before he disappeared into the night. Soon enough, he became the sole reason you went to the Bronze. How pathetic, you thought, wanting to shiver in the cold while waiting for a stranger to appear, only to exchange a few words, maybe share a cigarette and then say goodbye.

One night you were warming yourself up with your lighter after crushing out your second cigarette waiting for Spike. You didn't think he was going to show until you turned around to go inside and there he was, brooding over the top of you and grinning manically.

"Hey Y/N! I was just looking for you. What are you doing outside? You must be freezing. Here let's go back inside."

He shuffled you indoors and bought you a hot mulled wine to warm you up. All the time shaking his head and complaining you were going to catch a cold. You moved naturally with him and followed his lead. This was the first time you had ever even seen him inside the Bronze, let alone be in his company with others around. You both sat down at a table in the back where it was away from the main stage.

"I haven't seen you in a while" you said, instantly regretting admitting you noticed.

"Yeah, I've been busy," Spike said raising his eyebrows, obviously surprised. "But I had my lucky lighter with me to remind me of you," showing you the vampire lighter out of his pocket and playing with it on the table. This made you smile that he remembered. You talked all night together until closing and he walked you home, after insisting, saying there's bad people lurking around this time of night.

It would only be a few weeks into the relationship that he would reveal his true identity as a vampire. You immediately ended the relationship in your head when his face turned into that of a beast. You weren't scared at the change in his appearance and demeanour. You only wanted to leave the Bronze and never see him again. This was three months ago and you hadn't seen him since. Not even when you braved to go our to the Bronze a few weeks after the break-up. You slowly forgot, or pretended you had forgotten, about the mystery vampire when you went to UC Sunnydale. What with all the studying, coffee and cigarettes consuming your brain you could hardly think straight let alone remember basic English. But, now you were back home and the memories consumed you. Perhaps, you thought, you had unconsciously quit smoking to forget Spike.

It was midnight, day 15, and you were kept awake by the intense cravings and nausea. You felt dizzy and the whole world was spinning when you rested your head. So, you switched on your bedside light and tried some breathing exercises. In and out. It will all go away soon, you thought. You stared out your bedroom window and remembered all the memories you had with Spike. You both had stood huddled under his leather jacket while it rained with his arm wrapped around your shoulder as you shared a cigarette. With your faces almost touching, all it took was a slight turn and that was the first time you both kissed. The cigarette forgotten about, laid burning half finished on the ground outside the Bronze. A sigh escaped your mouth as you remember the feeling of being kissed by Spike and exhaling smoke. You knew if you didn't quit smoking and break up with Spike they would have both killed you in the end. There's nothing in this world that compares to having something you love which kills you in the process. You feel both weak and strong being defeated because it means you have something to overcome.

These were the thoughts racing through your head as the clock moved between the early hours of the morning. You heard your parents snoring down the hallway and closed your eyes trying to isolate your dad's breathing and snoring. This grounded you in the moment until you heard a sudden sound outside of a lighter spark and an inhale that was followed by a familiar scratchy cough and a curse word. Paralyzed, you sat frozen on your bed while your eyes bursted open like a cat's, hair sticking up on end. You drifted to your windowsill, hiding behind the curtain and peeping outside you saw Spike standing below your window. He was leaning up against a tree in your front yard and looking straight into your bedroom. Flustered you backed away from the window. It's too dark to tell but you don't think he looked angry or upset. Honestly, it looked like he was just minding his own business, loitering in the middle of the night. Except, he was staring into your window so he obviously hasn't forgotten about you. You remember he is unable to enter the house since you never formally invited him inside. But, that didn't make him go away as there he stood waiting outside your house.

Knowing that you would be unable to sleep unless you confronted him about his stalker behaviour you returned to the window. You opened both curtains and sat down on your window sill bench wrapping the blanket around you. Breathing a deep breath, you opened your window and finally looked down at Spike.

"I had nearly given up," he said waving his lit cigarette. "I thought I was going to have to smoke a whole packet before you'd open up."

"What are you doing here Spike?" you ask, grimacing as you see his bleached blonde hair shine in the moonlight. God, how did that ever attract you.

"A little birdy told me that you've quit smoking and I've just come to give my congrats. Nothing wrong with that, is there?" He asks, grinning innocently and putting his hands up in the air. He crushes the cigarette on the ground and proceeds to light another one. "You see, I've tried quitting every turn of the century but nothing's seemed to work and I was thinking, since you're doing so well and all, you'd let me in on the secret".

This is unbelievable, you thought. He's really going to stand there all night, smoking a packet of cigarettes, trying to get inside your head. The wind rustled the leaves above Spike. Maybe if it picks up it would blow out his cigarette or at least drown out his voice. You looked into Spike's eyes as he raised his eyebrows waiting for your response.

"If you really want to know Spike, sometimes to kill one addiction you have to kill another. Like, if you always smoke when you have a drink you might have to quit both. At least for me, breaking up with you has solved all kinds of problems in my life."

"Ouch that hurts, love. But I bet that's what you wanted. Though I know you don't mean a word. I'll throw you up a smoke, if you want. Must be craving one like mad stuck in your room watching me enjoy one." He said, blowing out a cloud of smoke. You hated to admit it but he was right. You would have liked a cigarette but you couldn't bow down and accept one from Spike of all people.

"Sure and while I'm at it I think I want to get back together, don't you?"

"Cool it with the sarcasm pet, I'm just teasing you. Honestly, I want to commend you for giving it up. There's no point ruining your body when it's your only one. But I've been missing you lately. You never come to the Bronze anymore."

Why doesn't he just start crying, you thought. If you would have known he'd be this clingy you would never have spoken to him. Maybe all those times you waited in the back alley for him, he was also waiting for the right time to walk up to you. You had never thought about that before. How long could he have been staring at me, watching me, waiting to come up to me and have a smoke. It creeped you out to think of yourself as prey and Spike the predator. But that's what he was, at the end of the day. He had never raised his hand or drawn your blood, but that doesn't mean he wasn't trying to kill you. He was toying with you, making you believe you were in love with him. You thought you could never love another person except for Spike. But, you had proved that wrong having been in a more than happy relationship for months now.

You no longer needed those things that were silently killing you. Neither Spike or cigarettes were welcome into your life anymore. You stared down at Spike, smoking his third cigarette now catching a glimpse of your old vampire lighter. If only you could have known how ironic it was when you handed it over to him, he must have loved it. Reflecting back on when you first started smoking in your teenage years, you didn't know smoking was going to corrupt your body and become an irrepressible addiction. You were naïve and thought it would lessen the monotony of everyday life and make you more mature. The same was true about going out with Spike, an older guy who happened to be much older than he looks. You know you shouldn't blame yourself for what you know now but it's hard when you're consumed with deep seated regret. Especially because your body desires and craves both Spike and smoking.

"Goodbye, Spike." you whisper, just loud enough to see his face start and mouth open.

You smile sincerely looking down at Spike remembering the times you had together. The nights he'd stay out with you after closing hours and talk with you all night. But, Spike is a double-edged sword and someone who, in the end, would kill you if he had the chance. You close the curtains not turning back and curl up into bed imagining his arm around you as you smoked together in the rain. It felt so real, like he was there in bed beside you, Though you knew it was impossible you curled up next to him in his smoked-stained leather jacket and felt his arms wrap around you.

"I guess that's another addiction I haven't gotten over." you say as you breath a sigh of release. Turning out your lamp, you toss and turn trying to sleep while memories of Spike lighting a cigarette and handing it over to you with a grin churns in your brain.

[coraniaid]

Made a list of some various ways in which Kendra could have continued to appear in the show after Faith. Sorted roughly both in order of increasing impact on the plot and increasing suspension of disbelief required on the part of the audience:

Kendra stays dead, but somebody (ideally somebody who actually met her, but failing that just about anybody) brings her name up, in any context, after her last canonical mention on the show (by Cordelia in Faith, Hope & Trick). This is ... the baseline, surely. (Do you know nobody but Cordelia mentions her by name at all after Season 2? Or that there are multiple conversations in early Season 3 in which it's discussed that Buffy was wanted for murder but has since been cleared, but not one in which it is acknowledged that the person she was wrongly accused of murdering was her friend and fellow Slayer?)

Kendra stays dead, but the First takes on her appearance at any point (either in Amends or in Season 7). There's a lot of talk about how the writers were hoping to bring back Xander's friend Jesse for Conversations With Dead People, but I've never seen anything about them doing the same for Kendra, despite the fact that Kendra appeared more times on the show (and more recently) and clearly mattered far more to Buffy. And given that the writers insisted on recasting Nikki Wood this season (despite her original actor wanting to come back!), I'm not exactly inclinced to give them the benefit of the doubt here.

Kendra stays dead, but for some reason only known to the writers, Amy Madison casts a spell to make one of the Potentials look just like her for an episode. It is never made clear why Amy would do this beyond a vague desire to mess with Buffy, how she knew about Kendra in the first place, or what consequences -- if any - Amy ever faces after casting this spell. Somehow it's still only very slightly less stupid than the actual canon plot of Season 7's The Killer In Me (which, to be clear, this would not replace in my vision; randomy-evil!Amy does two very similar spells back to back, ideally in consecutive episodes).

Kendra stays dead, but -- in classic Star Trek Mirrorverse fashion -- the writers use some sort of magical contrivance to allow the Kendra from the Wishverse (who was, presumably, Called as a Slayer the moment that the Master killed that reality's Buffy Summers) to visit 'our' reality. (This isn't really within the rules as presented in The Wish, but if Vampire Willow can do it....). Imagine a version of Season 6's As You Were when Buffy doesn't have to try to justify herself to her shitty ex -- the man who left her to fight a god and die so that he could go and make Belize safe for missionaries -- but instead she has to come face to face with the perfect, by-the-book Slayer who died as a direct result of Buffy's last relationship with a vampire.

Kendra stays dead ... until Bargaining. Willow messes up her resurrection spell a little bit and accidentally brings back more than one dead Slayer. Kendra hangs around for the rest of the show and is understandably very confused throughout (in particular, she could have sworn that Buffy didn't have a little sister four years ago...). Maybe the Watchers show up again, after Kendra tries contacting Sam Zabuto for advice. Maybe Kendra reacts just as badly to being brought back from the dead as Buffy initially does (and, look, if she wants to follow Buffy's example and start a relationship with one of the monsters she's meant to be Slaying, Anya will be newly single in just a few months' time...)

Kendra stays mostly dead, but a certain academic at UC Sunnydale with ties to the US military has been hearing rumours and myths about "Slayers" from captured demons and vampires for a while now. Long enough to become curious, and to pull a few strings at the local morgue when the rumour mill tells her a vampire somehow managed to kill a Slayer. Said academic has been funneling government money to work on her own "perfect soldier" project for a long time, and what better test subject to demonstrate this work on than a Slayer of her own? It turns out that most of Kendra's memories are still intact, after a little bit of not-exactly-ethical post-mortem surgery gets her heart working again, and as luck would have it she's even been trained for years to follow orders and never question authority. She's perfect. Realizing that the name "Adam" was a bit on the nose anyway, Professor Walsh starts a new project in Room 314...

Kendra was left for dead by Drusilla, bleeding out and unconcious on the floor of Sunnydale High School library, but it turns out that modern medicine is a bit better than it was in Drusilla's day and Slayers have this whole enhanced healing deal that the canon show sometimes forgets about. Yeah, her heart stops a couple of times in the ER, which is enough for a third Slayer to be called as in canon (and Buffy might not know that Kendra is going to make it when she goes to fight Angelus or when she leaves town), but by the time Willow is up and walking around again, so is Kendra.

Kendra is alive at the beginning of Season 3, filling in for Buffy in Sunnydale while the other Slayer is living as 'Anne' in LA. After Buffy comes back, Kendra leaves town for another Hellmouth but still regularly makes cameo appearances every season. Faith is also there, just like in canon, and the fact that Faith should only have been activated as a Slayer if Kendra died is simply never addressed. (I mean, let's be honest, it's not like the show particularly cares about continuity anyway.)

[tara-maclays-gf]

i love how in season 4 both buffy and the initiative are patrolling on the uc sunnydale campus. like yeah, sure, in high school all the demons were in graveyards, but now we’re in college they’ve migrated to the campus, filled with lots of civilian trafic and very few demons they actually find on patrol

[buffyangelscreens]

[thequeenofsastiel]

I know everyone hates Riley, but, as a lesbian, I'll forever have a bit of a soft spot for him for helping to hang up a banner for UC Sunnydale's Lesbian Alliance and being super friendly with the lesbians involved in a non creepy way. That was pretty unusual for 1999.

[sunnydale-high-school-rumors]

oh my god, how do we end up with so many students wearing uc sunnydale sweatshirts on decision day? why do any of ya'll want to stay here?? sure, it's a good school, but this is also the murder capital of california! seriously, people, this is our chance to get out while we still can.

I mean yeah, but at least housing is cheap. Inflation is a bitchhhh

[throughhazeleyesofgreen]

Guys, guys, guys

I gotta gush about wincest in the buffy verse for a bit.

To give some background, I’m working on this series where Sam is sent back 3 years to the Hellmouth and attends UC Sunnydale with the Scoobies. It’s going to be more involved than that but suffice to say, Sam has gone through some horrors with the Buffy gang. One thing that is canonical to the Buffyverse is that vampire bites typically leave permanent scars on the neck. Buffy has one from Angel and later has that scar renewed by Dracula; Willow would have one from Spike in S4; can’t remember if Xander would have one by the end of the series but wouldn’t surprise me.

Anyway, Sam comes out of the experience with a few new scars, including a vampire bit scar on the side of his neck. When Dean notices the scar, I seem him being at first horrified at the sign he almost lost his brother at some point, and then bone deep jealous at the sight of the bite. How dare some vamp leave their mark on his baby brother? When the brothers get together, I see Dean gnawing and biting on the area so *his* mark overlays the old scar (among many others across Sam’s body). The area bright and red from Dean’s attention so the world can see.

If Dean gets turned into a vampire, his number priority would be to lay a permanent claim on his baby brother, renewing the scar with his own set of teeth marks. Dealer’s choice on whether Dean would try to turn Sam immediately or turn him into a sort of thrall/companion with Dean drinking his blood on a regular basis, renewing the scar each time.

[on-this-day-btvs]

November 14, 1999

Hush aired for BTVS season 4, episode 10. This was the first appearance of Tara Maclay, a classmate of Willow's at UC Sunnydale. Tara is played by Amber Benson and is a major character for the rest of this season and several more.

For the first time, Buffy and Riley kiss.

Olivia, a friend of Giles', has the last spoken words of the episode before the silence begins.

This episode was nominated for two Emmy Awards: Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series and Outstanding Cinematography for a Single Camera Series. The episode did not win in either nominated category.

The villains, a group of silent men called The Gentlemen, are especially frightening. Camden Toy played one of the Gentlemen, he is shown in the photo above. He returned to the Buffyverse playing other characters in 5 episodes of BTVS season 7 and 1 episode of ATS season 5. Sadly he passed away in early December 2023 from pancreatic cancer.

[school-of-all-time]

Round Four, Bracket 4

[mpixx]

cattonquick buffy au pt. 4 (ollie loses his v card)

cw: sex pollen (comparatively consensual tho)

"I'm only coming with you because we agree that there is a certain risk that these teenage witches will set something on fire or accidentally summon something."

Oliver is tugging at the long-sleeved polo Felix forced him to put on for the party. It's a lot more fitted than his usual clothing. Now that he sees Oliver fidget with it, Felix is torn between feeling guilty for making Oliver uncomfortable, and still agreeing with himself that he couldn't have let Oliver show up to a sorority party in one of his frumpy checked shirts. He already looks like a teacher chaperone, but now at least he could be the TA who grades your papers and who you know would be kinda cute if he took his glasses off.

"Yeah. Although it's probably just going to be party trick magic."

Oliver huffs. "This seems like a ruse on your part."

"Does it?," Felix grins, and rings the door bell.

***

They've barely walked into the house, greeted a few girls, when -

"Oliver Quick."

"H-hello Aiden."

Not this guy again. Oliver's friend or whatever from college who is now a PhD student at UC Sunnydale. He dresses like a pretentious prick (probably because he is one): turtleneck sweater and red wine glass permanently stuck to his hand. He's as tall as Felix though, which rubs him the wrong way.

"...I'm working on a paper about folk magic in Yucatán that you might be interested in..."

Felix resists the urge to tell Aiden that Oliver is not interested in his dusty theoretical research because Oliver has been assigned as a watcher which is much cooler. But he can't, because it's a secret.

"You know, we just arrived, we were about to..." Felix says instead.

"I would love to hear about that," Oliver interjects. Aiden smiles.

He gives Felix a little smirk as he steers Oliver away. Felix is about to say something else but Oliver actually looks relieved to have found someone to converse with, so he's gonna let them.

***

"Some of these are from the 19th century," Venetia explains, showing off the vintage potion vials to the group of 5 girls - and Felix - sat around the living room couch table. "They still have stuff in them, too."

Felix steals a glance at Oliver and Aiden in the corner. He had walked past them several times to eavesdrop (thanks, enhanced slayer-hearing) - but it was all a very dull conversation about authenticating manuscripts. Nothing titillating at all, nothing to worry about. Besides, Ollie had not even finished his drink which he has had for an hour now.

"Can I..." the girl to his right says, reaching for the ornate bottle. Venetia lets go a little too early and it slips from their hands - and shatters on the glass table.

"Fuck!" Everyone in their little circle jerks back. Felix watches with concern as a purple vapor escapes from the shards of glass and slithers into the air of the room.

"What does that one do...," one girl asks, eyes wide.

"Aphrodisiac," Venetia says, waving dismissively.

"Oh, shit, " someone says. "Did we inhale it?"

"It's not dangerous, this one" Venetia says. She winks. "And it only works on virgins, anyway."

Relieved breaths and faces all around.

Felix, too, sighs a breath of relief. He did lie about the risk of some dangerous magic happening to get Ollie to come to the party - and he honestly can do without it.

He looks around for Oliver anyway, just so they can form a plan in case this potion will turn out to be a problem despite Venetia's assurances to the contrary.

Only to find Oliver in a passionate embrace with Aiden, kissing him with his eyes closed. What the... Felix's stomach twists uncomfortably. He could have sworn there was nothing going on between them, despite him being kind of anxious about it. Has this been a thing? Were they a thing the whole time?

And now Oliver, who would never do anything like this, is climbing into Aiden's lap in front of a crowd of people.

"Um..." Felix says, feeling faint, turning to Venetia. "When you say it only works on virgins...," he asks, trying to sound casual.

"I know, so reactionary. You know how old school spells often required a virgin, or their blood or whatever?" Felix nods. "Well, this is a classic 19th century type of potion used to target them. Makes them really horny and lose their inhibitions."

"Just..." Felix casts a quick glance to the corner where Aiden has his dirty paws wrapped around Oliver's itty bitty waist. "...just virgins?" -"Yeah, but I think if they touch somebody, they get dosed, too."

Felix laughs awkwardly. God. Does this mean that Ollie...? Why is it so hot in here?

"We don't really make them anymore," Venetia continues. "There is very little evidence that virgins have any ritual significance. Feminist scholars of magic nowadays assume it was just some thing pervy men made up."

"Uh-huh," he says. "Pervy men. Got it. We hate those."

He is still stunned, but aware he needs to do something. But before he can get up, he sees Oliver pull Aiden up the stairs by his hand.

"I'll be right back," he says, stumbling to his feet.

***

He just goes through the door handles in order. Bathroom, empty bedroom. Locked.

Felix stops. Slowly steps closer, bringing his ear to the door.

"Wow..." A chuckle. "Oh, wow." Aiden.

Felix groans, and looks around. What if this is dangerous? But the only person who would know is Ollie. And he - well...seems incapacitated.

"Ollie!!" Felix bangs on the door. No reply.

Instead, a series of moans, breathy and high-pitched and...Oliver.

Felix sighs and slides down the door until he sits on the carpet. He thumps the back of his head against the door and rests it there.

"Don't stop, don't stop...uh...oooooh..."

Christ.

***

"What are you doing, Felix?" Venetia's sing-song voice appears at the top of the staircase.

"Nothing," he says quickly, taking his ear off the door.

A moan floats out through it, causing Venetia to raise her eyebrows. "Who's in there?" she asks.

"Just...Ollie. And this guy."

"You're honestly such a little freak, Felix."

"No, I...I think they got dosed with the potion."

"Oh. Hm. How long have they been in there?"

"Maybe an hour?"

"Oh wow, ok. Well. It's not dangerous. It will wear off eventually, once they get it out of their systems."

Through the door comes a crescendo of - honestly - kind of unhinged moans that announce Oliver to have reached some heretofore unseen height of ecstasy.

"Damn," Venetia smirks. "Your little watcher seems to be enjoying himself."

"I..." Felix swallows. "I have to go."

"Felix." Venetia catches his arm as he tries to brush past. "It's just a potion, yeah?"

"I don't know what you mean," he says, then makes his way down the stairs.

***

On Monday morning, Felix sneaks into the side entrance of the library instead of waltzing in through the main entrance like he usually does.

He takes a moment to observe before he makes himself known. And what he observes is that he looks different. He's standing at the desk, but instead of his usual concentrated hunch, his back is straight as he is tapping away on the ancient library computer with a private little smile on his face.

He stops typing and picks up a sheet of paper, his other hand going to his neck. Other than usual, his shirt has the top two buttons unbuttoned, and his finger is hooking absent-mindedly into a small silver chain around his neck that Felix has never seen before.

"Morning," Felix says, appearing at the desk. Oliver turns to him, dropping his hand. "Morning." He smiles. His skin looks amazing. Glowing. It's a little cliché, honestly.

"Have fun on Saturday?" Felix asks, more acidic than Oliver's friendly demeanor really warrants.

Oliver's eyes widen, then he flushes - reverting back to his awkward, self-conscious self. "Y-you..." -"It was hard to miss," Felix says, a little mean.

Oliver's cheeks are red and it looks very good with his already glowy skin. "I was pollened," he says, pushing his bangs to the side, embarrassed. He looks down at the desk. "I'm sure a lot of people at the party were."

No, they weren't. But Felix doesn't have the heart to tell him about the virgin thing.

"Yeah...lots of people," he lies, instead.

Relief washes over Oliver's face as he looks up. "It's just..." He touches his own earlobe absent-mindedly, rolling the flesh between his fingers, his eyes going a bit unfocused. "I was pollened."

Felix feels like his head is gonna explode. It's too much. Finding out the virgin thing would have been bad enough. But not only did Oliver then lose his v-card at a party Felix dragged him to - he, for all intents and purposes, did so in an hour-long drug-induced fuck marathon. And - and this probably is the worst part... From the way he is acting now, Ollie - awkward, quiet, stutters-when-he's-nervous Ollie - seems to have liked it.