Newish Spuffy writer puddinhead  (aka thepuddinhead) has started posting the sequel to Yours, William and it is already a gripping, ripping yarn! If you, like me, have a big ol' yen for historical time-travel fic that has fun characterizations, a little action, a little sex, and a lot of culture-clash, well, you should be reading along. Ms. P is a history teacher, but clearly the kind that knows how to make the dusty olden days come alive on the page.

If you want to jump right in, the premise of Yours, William is that post-series Buffy asks to go back in time to pre-vampire William, and ends up in the body of one of his household staff, without slayer powers, but with all her memories intact. Wackiness ensues, romance blooms, someone finds his inner badass a little earlier than anticipated, obstacles are faced and overcome, and when the time comes, Buffy decides to do the honorable thing. My Elizabeth begins with the happy couple boarding a boat for their new life in America, but something nasty awaits them in the cargo hold. In just three chapters (so far) there are old enemies, new enemies, new friends, the challenges of Victorian-era ocean travel and etiquette, and it looks like things are going to take a major turn soon. *anticipates* The prose is lean, the vision clear, and it's a heckuva lot of fun.

You can read My Elizabeth on LiveJournal, Dreamwidth, TheSpuffyRealm, or Elysian Fields (if you're a member).

The elephant in the room is unbridled_b's Forward to Time Past, against which all Buffy/William stories must inevitably be compared — and for good reason. Repeat after me: gold standard! Rest assured, puddinhead 's series is entirely different in scope and tone, largely because the Buffy we meet is in a much better place emotionally, and has chosen this journey for specific reasons, mindful that Spike was capable of selfless and noble action. For me, it's really interesting to see how much of a difference that makes.

You should also all be reading msjane's award-winning Time's Fool, a 40-years-in-the-future fic that just keeps getting better.

And now, a plea for HTML help! How do you put in both DW and LJ "user name links" in the same post? I've seen it happen in other people's posts, but the code is eluding me! I'd like to know before my seasonal_spuffy  posting day. *puppy eyes* Thanks, Snick!

Happy almost-Autumn, everybody!

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