This is one of the most interesting and inventive from-the-beginning AU stories that I've seen since I've tripped over this site, and I just love it to bits! And the fun little details of what stays close to the original series and what is so drastically different are fantastic. I can only hope that it will be updated again someday, and I pray that you still haven't given up on this series and that life stops being so hard on you and your muse. I know the pains of extended unemployment far too well myself.
Take care and good luck to you, come back soon, and thanks for writing. :)

So, how's the continuation coming? We needs more Satin Rose!

Something about Willow getting literal XPs and spending them on spells, magic items and level ups is so, so perfect. Presumably she's in a game system where skills improve by practice. :D

Same about the old age and treachery, even if we haven't seen it yet.

Cordelia topping from the bottom and being totally brutal, amazing. :D

And the Master dropping the melodrama and resorting to intelligence with an equal or near-equal, at least in private, is great. It reminds me of Voldemort in Time to Spare.

> "…An imp?" the demon lord ventured, with a look on his face that said he just didn't get it. He'd been practicing that look in mirrors for centuries.

LOL. This reminds me of Michael-Lan in Salvation War. When he plays innocent and clueless to one of his friends despite hooking him on drugs and planning to kill Jesus. He also practiced looking noble and heroic and innocent in a mirror for centuries.

Fantastic story, I love the way you are blending together the disparate elements. I think it helps that they are indeed from different worlds. Poor Kendra, forced to be a real person after so long and good on Giles for drawing her out. I also like your Joyce, she has the core of ruthlessness she showed smacking Spike with a Fire Axe in School Hard but in this universe she actually has the knowledge and experience to help out- a lot! And Willow has a guardian ready to watch over her arrogance. If only the enemies coming for Buffy were not so creepy, powerful and downright terrifying. I hope you are still able to have a little fun working on this from time to time. It is done so well that I don't mind waiting :)

That's very kind of you to say. I actually do mind waiting, at least when I'm the one writing it. But Real Life is dealing me a triple ration of stuff you don't mention in polite company right now.

But I refuse, I absolutely refuse, to let it kill this fic.

wow, I always thought Dragon Half was a bit too silly to watch, but after reading the first chapter of your suprise x-over I decided to give your story a chance, and it's good!

And Cordelia? I think the reason you like her so much is the same reason people like Spike as a Big Bad, he's a vampire, but he lives with the times, and he's a baddass who don't take no shit from nobody! (Yay Cool Runnings paraphrase!)

I find it amusing that Willow's Magical Girl powers follow RPG rules, it's just silly and cute.
I think you should read Tsunami Channel (webcomic) and the attached series Magical Girl Mina. Tsunami Channel is about a guy who's basically the main character of a DSG (Dating Similation Game) and works as a programmer. He's programing for a guy who's basically taken it upon himself to BECOME Ichan (from Chobits) and MAKE a Magic Girl. Unfortunately for him, the girl he cooses to become his Magic Girl is Mina, who's the daughter of a pair of scientists, and starts diseting the whole thing!

But really? 9 Months...?

9 months. 'Fraid so. I've been unemployed for nearly two years now, and that kind of emotional stress is really hard on the muse.

Every few weeks I manage to add another sentence or two to Chapter Three, but it's like pulling teeth without an anasthetic.

I have so many plans for this story and others, but...

Anyway, apologies to you and everyone else who reads this. I still intend to finish this, but at this point I can only say who knows when.

Fantastic story, great characterizations, believable AU effect, I love this series. Joyce is one of my favorites and I'm really loving her differences from the brief glimpses of the canon Joyce we got, as well as the similarities. I love Giles and the way you show that his core is still there even without Buffy's influence as his slayer, but also that him changing from Council follower is taking a slower/slightly different path. Buffy definitinely suits what we know of her pre slayerdom, with the maturity and wisdom growing more slowly, I can't wait to see how she develops more. Willow's journey is also very interesting and I like the glimpses of her character that could have lead towards her Canon meltdown, and now are leading to different things entirely. Kendra is also fascinating and it's so nice to see her character really explored, to see how she would deal longterm with exposure to such independent thought and different culture than how she was raised. I look forward to seeing what other scoobies might be brought in (Oz?) and how the relationships and plot elements, both canon and new, play out from here. I hope real life and the muse are kind to you and that you bring us more soon!

Hoping to see more of this gem soon. Only reason my rating's an 8 is a lack of updating :-D!!!

It's coming up on two years since I've had a job. That kind of anxiety is hard on the muse.

But I know where it's supposed to be going, and I really hope I can get back to it once I settle this other little matter.

Heh, good stuff. Congrats, you got me reading the manga it's based on. And now I'm glad that you're doing this story before Buffy turns 17 and goes through her first molting.

Whole story review, you get an 8 for a rating, if this was a complete story it would be a 10. I like all of what you have done except leaving Xander powerless and untrained. He should at least get some combat training from Kendra or the G-man. Intelligence and Creativity are also powers of a sort, and perhaps what Xander should excel in. Useful skills like first aid are other things that Xander and Jesse can learn. Look for the anarchists cookbook on the web and use some of that for Xander and Jesse.

Love the story and the series, and I hope to see it continue; especially if the "you've got to be kidding" response to Willow's magical girl-ness becomes a running gag of sorts. I do wonder if the last scene means that Joyce is going to be training Buffy, as well as if Buffy's biological parents will make an apperance as in the last story it was stated that they would be alerted/notified should Buffy ever transform.

Also, I know I'm thinking really far ahead in the series, but for some reason I keep picturing Xander dressing as Ryu from Breath of Fire (any of the games in the series), until I realized that this Xander doesn't have the same crush, does he? Ah well.

I'm wondering how long before Cordelia makes her coup, there's no way she can like playing lackey to 'the Master'.

Fascinating :)

It's good to see this return. As always, humor, character development and action (if less of the latter this chapter than some others) are all well done.
Ah, the advantages of having seen the original series... I always thought 'what's up' with Vita made sense considering her father's appearance.
It's good Mr. Wuffles is there for Willow since she does have a tendency to assume she 'knows best' and brush aside others (which can translate to indignation), partially caused by the fact she often really is smarter. And I see Buffy's got her own problem with overconfidence, which just makes sense given her canon personality as both a Slayer and a cheerleader beforehand, plus the rapid power boost she's gotten. We'll see if she learns caution and skill fast enough to avoid making any horrible mistakes.

Well, it's more Vina's mother than her father...though it was her dad's appearance that charmed her mom, so yeah, it does make sense. In a twisted, crazy, gonzo comedy kind of way.

Willow's biggest character flaw, it seems to me, has always been a tendency to equate intellectual superiority (which she has in spades) with moral superiority (which she really doesn't). She has a hard time realizing that just because she wants to do something doesn't mean she should.

Buffy has been handed a double helping of superpowers, with none of the responsibility that goes with the Slayer package. The downsides have not yet made themselves known, either, plus flying is an incredible rush. It's bound to bite her in the...tail...sooner or later.

You should give lessons on how to write a Buffy crossover, sure Buffy is extremely powerful but the enemies that you are lining up seem to be able to match her. I was a bit put off that you killed Cordelia but any misgivings went away with her fist meeting with the Master. I hope she survives his inevitable demise.
Good work and I can't wait to read more.