Fic: Because Even the Impending Apocalypse Doesn't Stop the Rituals of High School

[allyndra]

For 14valentines. Today's theme is domestic violence, which plagues thousands of women each year, turning their homes into places of fear and pain. Read the essay here.

Title: Because Even the Impending Apocalypse Doesn't Stop the Rituals of High School
Author: Allyndra
Pairing: none
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Through Graduation Day: Part 2
Summary: Despite everything, yearbooks got signed before the class of '99 graduated. This is Xander's.


****************************************

Have a nice summer! -Aura

*

Xander-
I'm sorry I was such a dick to you all these years. Although, if you ever want me to be a dick to you again ...wink wink. Just kidding. You helped me change my life. If you're ever ready to talk, let me know. -Larry

*

Have a nice summer -Harmony

*

Dude!
I always thought you were a doof, but if you hang with Willow and that Buffy chick, you gotta be brave. -Percy

*

Have a great summer! -Scott

*

Xander,
I was prepared to hate you forever, but you had to go and ruin it by being nice to me. Jerk. If you get killed by gross slimy things, I'll never forgive you. And if you stay alive, you'll be able to tell people you knew me before I got famous. Not that they'll believe you. -Cordelia

*

You kinda rock. Don't let it go to your head. -Oz

*

You're really lucky, you know? You've got friends, and you make a difference. Just in case you thought no one noticed ... I noticed. -Jonathan

*

I was going to be Witty Quote Girl, but all I can think of is "You are the wind beneath my wings+," and that is beyond lame. So insert deeply meaningful quote about friendship and death and Hellmouths here. -Buffy

+You are, though.

*

Inebriate of air am I,
And debauchee of dew,
Reeling, through endless summer days,
From inns of molten blue.
Hope you have a good summer. -Owen

*

Xander,
Do you remember the time when we were seven and we found a gallon of ice cream at the back of the freezer and snuck it out to my backyard and ate the whole thing? It started out fun and exciting and ended in nausea and needing new pants. That's how I feel about graduating, and one of the things that's keeping me from ralfing Rocky Road all over the school is knowing that you'll still be with me. You're my favorite Xander in the world! -Willow

P.S. Don't tell anyone about the needing new pants thing. I'd like to graduate with two things: my life and a little dignity.

*

Sometimes I miss you guys. Not, like, hanging out and eating pigs, but the way you smelled like family. -Tor

*

Have a fun summer! -Lisa

*

Blessed be, Xander! -Michael

*

If you had any idea how much stuff I didn't publish about you and your friends, you would be groveling at my feet. You're lucky I don't go in for blackmail. -Freddy (that wasn't a threat. Don't sic Buffy on me.)

*

You were a major ass to Cordelia, just so you know. And you dress funny. -Lishanne

*

Hamburgers are murder! -Billy

*

Have a great summer! -Katy

*

Hey, thanks for not spreading rumors about, you know, the sex thing. Because I'm totally a stud, no matter what that freak of a teacher said. -Blayne

*

I haven't the faintest notion of what one is meant to write in these things, but I'll do my best. Despite your penchant for inappropriate humour and your insistence on eating messy snacks while reading my books, it has been an honour to know you these past three years. I'm certain that you will find your place and have a very bright future. Provided there is a future. -Rupert Giles

*

You're much less worthy of a searing death than most men. Try to stay that way. -Anya

*

Have fun this summer! - Wendell

Comments

[xanzpet.livejournal.com]

I would love to leave some thoughtful and coherent feedback, but I'm too busy alternating between hysterical laughter and horrific sobbing. Thank you for that. Seriously.

This was so lovely and so wonderful and so them. You're one of the best writers in this or any fandom. Thank you for sharing your work with us, hun. You inspire me so much.

[allyndra.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! I don't even know why I started this, but suddenly I was writing yearbook comments in my head while showering and driving to work. It was so much fun!

*hugs* You're so fabulously encouraging! Thank you!

[fydyan.livejournal.com]

Oh, wonderful! You've really captured the absolute essence of Graduation right here. I'm all nostalgic for the first three seasons, now.

[allyndra.livejournal.com]

I really adore the Scoobies in the first three seasons. They're still aewsome all the way through, but they were so young in high school. *pats them on the head*

Thank you for your comment!

[outsideth3box.livejournal.com]

Awwwwwww!

That was too cute for words!

Really good job getting all the voices to sound and feel right in so very few words.

[allyndra.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm so glad you thought they sounded in character. That's a great compliment. :o)

[julii-wolfe.livejournal.com]

"You're much less worthy of a searing death than most men. Try to stay that way."

I think it's time to resurrect Anya and find out if she'd keep this verdict or if she'd decide to eviscerate and or torture him after he left her at the alter.

Well done, I like how you captured a lot of the peripheral characters from Buffy, and how you kept in the pathos from high school. We all know what "have a good summer" really means.

remind me never to look at my high school year books.

[allyndra.livejournal.com]

I think Anya and Xander had come to a pretty good place by the end. And even if they hadn't, I don't think she would have been able to consign him to the scorching death he so richly deserved. :o)

I'll tell you a secret: I've never had a yearbook. But if I had, it would have been full of "Have a nice summer!" I enjoyed coming up with the responses for Xander's, though.

Thanks for commenting!

[copracat]

Lovely. It made me happy and melancholy.

[allyndra.livejournal.com]

Thank you! That mix of humor and horror, cheer and sadness was one of the things I liked best about the show, so I'm taking that as a compliment. :o)

[copracat]

I must practice being more verbose in feedback. It was most certainly meant as a compliment.

[roguewords.livejournal.com]

So cute.

reccing this to my friends list. :D

*gets to use Xander icon yay!*

[allyndra.livejournal.com]

Yay for Xander icons!

Thanks so much for commenting and for wanting to rec it. I had a blst with this!

[whichwitch666.livejournal.com]

This was astonishing.
So many characters, all with perfect voices :)

I miss the show, always, and your fic made miss them all, painfully. Made me long for more of season 3. I wanted you to go on and on.... *sniff*

Anyway, you rock. I'm going to pimp this everywhere!

[allyndra.livejournal.com]

I miss the show, too. The comics are helping, but it's not the same. Thank goodness for DVDs!

Thanks for the comments and the pimpage!

[r-becca.livejournal.com]

Here on a rec from WhichWitch -- this is lovely. Short and sweet, but like her it really made me long for season 3. Great job!

[allyndra.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I was concerned that it would be too short to attract anyone's interest, so I'm thrilled you enjoyed it.

[musesfool.livejournal.com]

This is perfect. Oh, Xander...

[allyndra.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much!

[a2zmom.livejournal.com]

Here from BBF. This is just great, from the kids who didn't know him to the kids who didn't like him right down to the scoobes.

Just a super job.

[allyndra.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I had so much fun writing these. :o)

[celesteavonne.livejournal.com]

I love the Rupert Giles bit the best. This was a great fic. The first I've read in a long time, and I'm really glad.

[allyndra.livejournal.com]

I'm honored that you read this after a fic drought. :o) I wrote Giles' last; I almost skipped him, as he wasn't a student, but he was such an important part of the Scoobies' lives, I had to include him.

Thank you for commenting!

[morbidmuse.livejournal.com]

Lovely fic. I don't know what else to say. This was just lovely. *saves to memories*

[allyndra.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much!

[raiining.livejournal.com]

Very well done!

[allyndra.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[nwhepcat.livejournal.com]

Oh, I loved how you moved from the misty-eyed ones to ones that made me laugh out loud. Owen, what a big pretentious dork. (And his last line is what made me sporfle.)

[superfluous line added so following doesn't get screwed up by LJ format]

2 good

2 B
____

4 gotten

[allyndra.livejournal.com]

*grin* I went looking through my old poetry books to find an Emily Dickinson poem that would be "summer vacation" enough for Owen. As you said, he is such a pretentious dork.

Thanks so much for the comment!

[tigriswolf]

Oh, this is awesome.

[allyndra.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[ulkis.livejournal.com]

came here via unfitforsociety. I loved this!

[allyndra.livejournal.com]

Thanks for dropping by and for commenting!

[thistlerose.livejournal.com]

What a brilliant idea. I love this. You've captured so many minor characters I'd half-forgotten and, through them, Xander.

[allyndra.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much! I had a lot of fun looking up characters to include (and making sure they were still alive right before graduation). :o)

[maidenjedi]

Oh, this was so much fun! Got here via unfitforsociety. Great job, you made me want to go home and watch season 3 all over again!

[allyndra.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much! While I loved Buffy all the way through its run, the early seasons had an innocent charm that makes me nostalgic. :o)

[redrikki.livejournal.com]

Great little piece. I like how you mixed in the people who didn't know enough to write anything meaningful with the ones who did. For some reason Tor's was my favorite. Not only was it a great call-back to a good and creepy Xander episode, but there was this wonderful air of loneliness to it.

[bofoddity.livejournal.com]

Here via rec. This was really lovely and nostalgic, and made me miss Buffy a lot. I liked Tor, Buffy and Jonathan parts the best.

[faith-chaos.livejournal.com]

The Cordelia one just about killed me. Very good stuff :)

[fitofpique.livejournal.com]

I stumbled on this via del.icio.us and was intrigued. What a cool premise, wonderfully executed! I actually teared up at Jonathan's comment. And then again at Giles'. Aw!

[fleshlycherry.livejournal.com]

I arrived here by trolling through the old 14V entries, and I just wanted to say that I really liked this. I have such a nostalgia for those days of Buffy sometimes, this was a great blast from the past. I especially loved how you threw in the little shout outs to secondary and tertiary characters :)

Sometimes I miss you guys. Not, like, hanging out and eating pigs, but the way you smelled like family. -Tor

That *points*, that kind of broke my heart. I would read about a thousand fics that elaborate on that statement :D

[allyndra.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I felt so self-indulgent writing these; it always surprises and delights me that other people like them, too. I had a lot of fun looking back through the series to find character who survived through to graduation, to sign the yearbook.