Aadler’s Favorites —
Fan Fiction by Other Authors

Miranda

In case I’ve never quite said so before now, I don’t have much taste for ‘shipper’ fic, those stories devoted to promulgating or exploring (ad nauseum, in most cases) various relationships between canon characters. Nor is there great likelihood that I would ever enjoy a tale of this type in the absence of such small things as:   –     solid plotting –   a reason (other than the author’s obsession) for said relationship to have begun in the first place, or continued to develop –   good use of language –   plausible and authentic depiction of the canon characters involved –   an actual story that went beyond the progression of the relationship itself. Fortunately, Miranda’s “Quiet as a Mouse” delivers on all of the above. It even carries it a couple of steps further, by making it about the highly unlikely pairing of two persons who never really interested me that much to begin with. And, quite apart from the requirements I named, the author made it an ensemble piece, using multiple members of the Buffy/Angel crews, and set it in a rather interesting future, and delivered some beautiful backstory in the process. I still don’t like shipper stories. But I like this one. (Warning: Part 1 has “End” at the bottom. Don’t believe it, click on the link to Part 2 and continue from there.)
Quiet as a Mouse	Season: future	Spoilers: “Forever” (Buffy)