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* [[Abandoned Warehouse]]: The frequency with which they turn out to be vampire lairs is lampshaded and mocked by the Scoobies.
** "Lestat" uses such a warehouse for the lair of his band of vampires, but approaches it with [[Dangerously Genre Savvy|dangerous genre-savviness]].
* [[Abnormal Ammo]]/[[Depleted Phlebotinum Shells]]: After seeing [[w:Dragon's breath|"Dragon's Breath"]] shotgun shells in use, Willow and Xander create "Slayer Shells":
* [[Acquired Poison Immunity]]: What it turns out that the Cruciamentium is ''really'' about -- building up the Slayer's immunity to a number of otherwise deadly toxins of demonic origin. The immunity is carried by the Slayer Spirit, so even if a particular Slayer dies from the Cruciamentium, the next will have improved resistance to the poison(s).▼
* [[Anachronism Stew]]: At least in regards to pop-culture references. While the story ostensibly starts during the series' canonical time period (1996-2002), the characters routinely invoke, quote or cite works that wouldn't come out until well afterward.
** Xena's memories, at least to Xander. He notes that she has recollections of events that most definitely did not all take place in a single human lifespan.
* [[And I Must Scream]]: Faith while working for the Mayor, after she discovers that she cannot ''refuse'' to kill someone she doesn't want to, no matter how hard she tries.
* [[Anything That Moves]]: Andrea at least gives this impression to the Scoobies for a while after her transformation, but she quickly settles down with a boyfriend.
▲* [[Acquired Poison Immunity]]: What it turns out that the Cruciamentium is ''really'' about -- building up the Slayer's immunity to a number of otherwise deadly toxins of demonic origin. The immunity is carried by the Slayer Spirit, so even if a particular Slayer dies from the Cruciamentium, the next will have improved resistance to the poison(s).
* [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking]]: Willow's panicked babble from the end of chapter 102, at the prospect of her parents ''both'' coming home at an inopportune time:
{{quote|How am I gonna tell 'em that I'm a magic-wielding lesbian sex-having witch who believes in the supernatural and turned her boyfriend into a girl? And I've eaten bacon!}}
* [[Asskicking Equals Authority]]: Because the Scoobies rescued the DRI base and killed Adam, they ultimately get a lucrative government contract as consultants to the reconstituted Initiative.
* [[The Atoner]]: Faith, after she's freed from mind control.
* [[Attractive Bent Gender]]: Definitely in play for everyone subject to a gender transformation in this story.
* [[Back from the Dead]]:
** Faith flatlines twice on the operating table after Buffy nearly kills her, but is revived and eventually makes a full recovery after an extended coma.
** After a failed attack on Glory, Kennedy is smashed into a pond, where she drowns and technically dies -- until she is rescued, receives CPR and is revived.
* [[The Baroness]]: Invoked (through ''[[G.I. Joe]]'') as a model for Xander/Xendra's early "Goddess Messalina" act.
* [[Bavarian Fire Drill]]: Xander (as "Xendra Giles") when the Council team visits Sunnydale.
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* [[Bow Chicka Wow Wow]]: Invoked by Willow when speculating on playing "pizza delivery girl" sex games with Xander.
* [[Brainwashed and Crazy]]: Faith, after evil!Amy tricks her into accepting a "clarity of thought" spell which actually turned up all her bad traits and turned down her good ones.
* [[Bratty Half-Pint]]: How the Scoobies (including Faith) initially see 14-year-old Slayer Kennedy DaSilva. They call her [[Willy Wonka
* [[The Caper]]: A lot of Scooby plans work out like classic capers, especially the plan to tap into the Sunnydale Army base's comm system so Willow can untraceably crack high-security government computer systems.
* [[Chekhov's Gun]]: There is no dearth of them: just about anything that initially seems to be a "one-off" event or item eventually returns.
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* [[Continuity Cameo]]: The arrival of a tween-aged Vi (complete with knit hat) on the Summers doorstep as the ''fourth'' Slayer at the very end of the story.
* [[Conversational Troping]]: Despite the anachronism, the Scoobies appear familiar with troping jargon and use it a few times, such as describing Cordelia as an [[Alpha Bitch]] to Faith.
* [[Cool Big Sis]]: After the revelation of the all-but-literal sisterhood of all Slayers, Buffy and Faith take this role for Kennedy -- and when a thirteen-year-old Vi shows up in the final paragraphs of the story, Kennedy is delighted to get her turn at it.
* [[CPR: Clean, Pretty, Reliable]]: Averted with Kennedy's resucitation at the renaissance fair; it works, but it's neither clean nor pretty, not with all that lake water involved.
* [[The Cracker]]; Willow, in a rare non-malevolent (though admittedly still criminal) example.
* [[Crossover]]: Very loosely. Xander gains Xena's body, skills, and memories, but after Halloween ends is ''not'' her. And he quickly discovers that while he knows all the ancient languages she knew, not all her memories of the ancient world are accurate either because of different timelines, because modern history is missing information, or both.
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* [[Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Trailer|Dame Not-Appearing-In-This-Fanfic]]: Dawn, whose creation is one of the things [[For Want of a Nail|disrupted by Xendra's existence]].
* [[Dangerously Genre Savvy]]: "Lestat", which makes him and his followers particularly hard to handle for the Buffy-less Scoobies.
* [[Demonic Possession]]: Played with when a grief-stricken and enraged Tara uses a black magic ritual to give her body to a dangerous demon in order to get revenge on Glory -- but it's clear she's possessing the demon more than it's possessing her.
* [[Doorstopper]]: 281 chapters and 960,111 words written over seven years.
* [[Double Standard Rape (Female on Male)]]: Averted in the aftermath of {{spoiler|Faith's rape of Xander in both forms while they were under the influence of magic that essentially made her high and him barely conscious. Faith is guilt-stricken and Xander ends up going to therapy (as Xendra)}}.
* [[Emergency Transformation]]: One is effectively performed when Drusilla triggers Xander's third change to make him an ersatz Jenny Calendar with which to torment and torture Giles. Xander at that point is paralyzed by a spinal injury and not far from death from other wounds; when he is forced back into teen!Xena form all his injuries vanish (but remain, in abeyance, in his male form, complicating plans to change him back). A couple years later Xander suffers another serious injury and remains female until the necessary ritual can (again) be performed.
** Late in the story, Willow deliberately includes a dying Riley Finn in Xander's transformation to Xendra to save both their lives.
* [[The End - or Is It?]]: The story ends with the defeat of Glory, expanding numbers of Slayers, the dawn of a new era of Council support for them... and a conclave of villains planning how to take advantage of the vacuum created by the destruction of the Circle of
* [[Epiphany (trope)|Epiphany]]: As a result of a [[Vision Quest]] all three Slayers -- ''and'' Xendra -- undergo, they experience personal and group epiphanies which lead to, among other things, the acknowledgement that the Slayers are more than metaphorical sisters, and Faith finally accepting Xander and Willow's affection for her -- and hers for them.
* [[Even Evil Has Standards|Even Chaos Has Standards]]: Ethan Rayne's patrons -- a variety of gods and goddesses of Chaos -- force him to cooperate with the Scoobies and the DRI to find a way to reverse the effects of his Halloween spell on the children of Sunnydale, because it made it possible for them to become Glory's demonic minions.
* [[Evil Laugh]]: Corrupted!Amy gets a few in the privacy of the Madison home.
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* [[Gadgeteer Genius]]: Willow is a realistic version of this trope, creating all manner of gadgetry ranging from ammunition to electronics, and at times coming close to [[Magitek]].
* [[Gender Bender]]: Xander/Xendra, Andrew/Andrea, Wesley/"Linda"...
* [[God Guise]]: Faith (equipped with "Mister Clubby" and backed up by a DRI team), convinces a military Search-and-Rescue team that beat them to a downed DRI helicopter that she is a Norse goddess in order to acquire their cooperation. It helped that they had already their own [[Agent Mulder]] and a few experiences with the supernatural.
* [[Good Cop, Bad Cop]]: Used by Xander and Andrew to get Tucker to reveal who makes spell crystals; lampshaded during the planning beforehand.
** Willow's parents do this when interrogating Willow and Xander.
* [[A Good Name for a Rock Band]]: Invoked by name several times, such as with "Gunn and the Broodmeister".
* [[Good People Have Good Sex]]: Willow and Xander (regardless of the gender he's in at the time)... and Faith (
* [[Hero of Another Story]]: In the early part of the story there is an extended sequence where we see the Scoobies working to keep Sunnydale safe while Buffy has run away as in canon, something that was glossed over in the series.
* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]: How Ethan Rayne ultimately breaks the spell that turned children into Glory's minions.
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* [[Impossible Task]]: What the Scoobies and the Watcher's Council ensure that reassembling the Judge will be in the future. The Council arranges for some pieces to be dropped in deep ocean trenches, others to be buried in Antarctica, and one to even be shot into space. Willow keeps a piece and after determining that she can't find a way to kill it, freezes it with liquid nitrogen, shatters it into innumerable tiny shards, and then has those shards mixed into fresh concrete being poured as the foundation of a building.
* [[Improbable Weapon User]]: Xander keeps up the use of chakrams in combat. Even though he never gets as good as Xena with them in either form, he does become quite skilled. They're also advantageous in that most vampires and demons don't know how to handle them, frequently ending up missing fingers when they try to catch the weapons -- and Xander makes his chakrams engraved with tiny crosses for that extra special something on top of their razor-sharp edges.
* [[In Spite of a Nail]]: Some events in the months immediately after That Halloween run essentially the same despite the
* [[Invisible to Normals]]/[[Sunnydale Syndrome]]: Starts breaking down, at least slightly, in the wake of the Mayor's explosive death in the middle of a park, and the subsequent distribution of tons of snake meat across the landscape.
* [[Let's You and Him Fight]]: The Scoobies use this on the demonic targets that are too big for them to deal with directly, first by manipulating the Circle of
* [[Loophole Abuse]]: A few examples:
** Willow figures out that the Council's seeming "evil" and dickishness is actually a cover for protecting the Slayer the only ways they can given the demonic compact they are party to but cannot reveal due to its terms, at risk of breaking it. However, the compact had no provisions for ''third parties'' deducing and revealing its existence, and when Willow does so... nothing bad happens.
** Similarly, while the Council is banned by the current version of that compact from equipping the Slayer with modern weapons, it says nothing at all about third parties doing so on their own initiative.
** The Scoobies figure out that an unanticipated side effect of destroying the L.A. headquarters of Wolfram and Hart could drop Glory into the laps of the Senior Partners -- and so they lure her there and use her to effect the very destruction that then ejects her into the demonic realms.
* [[Magitek]]: By midway through the story, Willow is freely mixing magic and technology to do some of the things the Scoobies need.
* [[Making Use of the Twin]]: In-Universe example -- Wesley's female form is apparently close enough in appearance to Faith that with the right make-up they can pass as twins, and in the aftermath of Wesley's second transformation (and the destruction of all his IDs and papers in the process) they exploit this to get back to the United States together.
* [[Metronomic Mook Massacre]]: Buffy does this to "Skip", a metal-skinned demon ''much'' larger than her, during the attack on the Hyperion.
* [[The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body]]: Xander worries constantly about this even ''after'' he's no longer stuck as "Xendra", although after a year or so it finally damps down.
* [[Master of Disguise|Mistress of Disguise]]: When sharing her identity with female!Wesley to get them both back to the United States, Faith turns out to be ''very'' adept at disguising both herself and "Linda", with multiple guises for both.
* [[Nail'Em]]: Xendra uses a high-powered nailgun to slow down and eventually incapacitate Adam long enough for Buffy to deactivate him during the raid on the DRI base.
* [[Named After Somebody Famous]]: Kennedy DaSilva and her mother McKinley Williams; apparently her mother's family has a tradition of Presidential names.
* [[Named Weapons]]: The Hammer of the Troll Gods allows its "approved" users to rename it. Buffy calls it "Mister Clubby", and as far as Willow can tell with her magic, it ''likes'' the name.
* [[No Celebrities Were Harmed]]: [[Significant Anagram|"Linda Loshayn"]], a transparently-obvious [[Expy]] of [[Lindsay Lohan]] with whom Kennedy becomes involved. (Interestingly, Lohan herself is referenced a couple times and seems to be a different person entirely.)
* [[No Endor Holocaust]]: Averted, at least theoretically, in that based on Xander, Andrew/Andrea and several other people with permanent fallout from That Halloween, the Scoobies are concerned about [[Foreshadowing|the possible long-term aftereffects on the children that were also transformed]].
* [[No Ontological Inertia]]: Most if not all of the spells cast by the Mayor gradually (or suddenly) collapse on his death.
* [[Oh My Gods]]: Xander, thanks to a bit of personality overlap from Xena, is given to occasionally saying things like "the wrath of Zeus".
* [[Omnidisciplinary Scientist]]: Willow. By the time she's college-aged, she's already got Bachelor's degrees in multiple fields, and is working on several Master's and at least one Ph.D.
* [[One from Column A and Two from Column B]]: Willow mentions that she cloned a computer from Wolfram & Hart to use as a cover for some hacking and is asked if she used magic or technology.
{{quote|"Both!" Willow grinned. "Some from Column A and some from Column B."}}
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Okay, he should stop making jokes that included the words ‘sign of the apocalypse’ because, well, real apocalypses that were happening all over the place. Who the hell decided there should be an apocalypse twice a year? Okay, the word ‘hell’ there was probably totally relevant, because things from hell dimensions were probably a part of the whole mess anyway. And hadn’t Giles told him that the things that created vampires were maybe still around in their own hell dimensions? Jerks.
Nah, he should keep making jokes about the signs of the apocalypse. Because if you couldn’t make ‘signs of the apocalypse’ jokes anymore, then the apocalypsers have already won. Or something like that.}}
* [[One Steve Limit]]: Averted with "Linda Leslie Price", Wesley's female alter ego, and "Linda Loshayn", Kennedy's celebrity girlfriend.
* [[Operation: Blank]]: When making plans to expand their intelligence on the DRI, the Scoobies spend some time discussing what to call their plans, at one point invoking this trope. But ultimately this is averted, as they can't agree on any of the words to fill in the "Blank", and simply end up calling whatever they do "The Op", "The Other Op", and "The Other Other Op", as needed.
* [[Demonic Possession|Possession]]: {{spoiler|We learn at the end of the story that "Corrupted!Amy" is not Amy at all, but one of her ancestors who possessed her body about midway through the story.}}
* [[Post-Modern Magik]]: Willow becomes a master of this, reaching a point where she can deconstruct ancient, complex and time-intensive spells or formulae, determine their "active ingredients", and reconstruct them into simpler and often more-effective forms using off-the-shelf components. She eventualy extends this into true [[Magitek]].
* [[Put on a Bus]]: Darla, and then Angel, are shipped off to the Vatican to protect them from Wolfram and Hart. They never return during the course of the story.
* [[Reality Ensues]]: One of Castle's trademarks, nowhere better seen than with the Hammer of the Troll Gods, AKA "Mister Clubby". While to its "authorized users" it is heavy but easily wieldable, to everyone and everything else -- including vehicle suspensions, elevators, furniture, and concrete slabs -- it's several tons of dead weight. With all the unwanted effects that brings. Xander eventually builds a "baby bed" out of heavy truck parts just to give Buffy a safe place to put it down.
* [[Reasonable Authority Figure]]: In addition to Joyce's canon status as this after she learns about the supernatural, Willow's parents ''also'' get on board with the team after the truth is revealed to them.
* [[Redemption Equals Death]]: After Ethan Rayne's [[Heroic Sacrifice]] is discovered, the Scoobies discuss whether this might be the case -- insofar as what his patrons would consider a redemption, at least.
* [[The Reveal]]: Initially the Council looks just like the [[Jerkass]]es and near-villains they are in canon. But... early on it's unexpectedly shown that many of the "evil" or just plain dickish things they (particularly Quentin Travers) do -- including things like the Cruciamentium -- are forced upon them by or are ways to get around a compact with demonic forces that prevents the Earth from being overrun outright. The terms of the agreement go so far as to outright forbid telling anyone other than the highest echelons of the Council what's really going on, at risk of breaking the compact and opening Earth up to outright invasion. For much of the rest of the story the contrast between the Council's real motives and purposes and what the Scoobies ''think'' they are makes for an interesting undercurrent to the plot.
* [[Rings of Death]]: "Xena"'s chakram, and Xander's adoption of the weapon himself after that Halloween.
* [[Running Gag]]: The early disagreement over the proper collective noun for a group of vampires: [[Twilight (novel)|"sparkle"]], "kiss", or "clot"/"coagulation".
** Between Willow, Xander and Faith, [[It Makes Sense in Context|marshmallow cream]].
** People making the "''[[Home Alone]]'' face". Even Joyce gets in on it!
* [[Second Law of Gender Bending]]: Andrew/Andrea, very much so.
** Xander/Xendra initially worries about it constantly, but eventually comes to a kind of equilibrium state where he's equally comfortable as either. Of course, Willow being intensely into both of his forms helps a lot.
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* [[Self-Deprecation]]: Xander's sincere conviction that he is stupid -- despite being able to not only convincingly masquerade as "Xendra Giles" in the presence of Watchers Council members but to ''impress'' them with "her" intelligence, not to mention his frequent contributions to complex and sophisticated discussions and plans with Giles and the Scoobies.
** Faith has some manner of inferiority complex when it comes to people with a better education than she has; [[In Vino Veritas|under the effect of a spell that essentially intoxicates her]], she breaks down and cries about how intimidated they make her feel.
* [[Significant Anagram]]: "Linda Loshayn", the name of Kennedy's Hollywood starlet girlfriend late in the story, is an anagram of "[[Lindsay Lohan]]".
* [[Sitting on the Roof]]: Xander takes to doing this for a few weeks when he's feeling estranged from the Scoobies after Angel returns from Hell.
* [[Society for Creative Anachronism]]: The Scoobies start carrying their weapons around in dufflebags with prominent SCA labels and logos.
* [[Spoiled Brat]]: Kennedy DaSilva, the third slayer. The Scoobies refer to her as [[Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory|"Veruca Salt"]] and other less-flattering names after they first meet her. However, Giles and Wesley note that she can turn it on and off at will, and suspect that it may be as much a deceptive act as Buffy's "airhead" and Faith's "sexbomb" personae. {{spoiler|(Which it is. When the all-but-literal "sisterhood" of all Slayers is revealed, Kennedy's behavior moderates and she is viewed more fondly.)}}▼
* [[Spit-Take]]: Several instances and near-instances, usually set up and triggered as a prank.
▲* [[Spoiled Brat]]: Kennedy DaSilva, the third slayer. The Scoobies refer to her as [[Willy Wonka
* [[To the Pain]]: "Messalina"'s "torture" of Kevin to get information on "Lestat"'s little band of vampires and followers is almost entirely stagecraft and suggestion. The only real pain inflicted on him are a couple slaps with a riding crop; he breaks when what he thinks is a dentist's drill is simply brought close to his face.
* [[Transformation Trinket]]: The one-use crystals holding the spell that turns Xander into Xendra. After a few changes he acknowledges that it's occasionally a necessary and good thing to be able to change if needed, so Xander tends to carry one with him at all times.
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** After a year or two, Xander becomes surprisingly comfortable switching genders as needed for both Scooby business and private fun with Willow.
** Ultimately, Wesley chooses to become a woman full-time because it's the only way he can be with Tara.
* [[Triang Relations]]: Xander and Willow are open to a Type 8 relationship with Faith, but because of her self-esteem issues and guilt over having raped Xander years earlier they have trouble convincing her of their sincerity. However, by the end of the story she
* [[Undead Tax Exemption]]: Willow eventually acquires the means to create fully-realized histories and identities for "Xendra Giles"/"Xendra Harris" and "Leslie Linda Price", with genuine records in the appropriate government and private databases and all the attendant paperwork, including passports. [[Reality Ensues]], however, when she realizes she has to falsify ''years{{'}}'' worth of tax histories and returns for them.
** Later, she uses the expertise gained then to create a fully-fleshed out legal identity for Angel to help protect him from some of Wolfram and Hart's schemes, and to protect the hotel as well.
* [[Unspoken Plan Guarantee]]: Actively averted with the caper to tap into the Army base satellite dish. We get all the planning and debugging of the plan, the practice of the physical aspects, and then its execution -- and nothing goes wrong.
* [[Vision Quest]]: The Slayers and Xendra participate in one that leads to a set of individual and group epiphanies.
* [[What Might Have Been]]: An [[In-Universe]] example occurs when Xander is told, in broad, vague terms, what would have happened if the Monks of Dagon had not turned Xendra into the Key; the reader will easily recognize the canonical fifth season of ''Buffy'' in the description.
* [[Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?]]: Xander's suggestions (in the guise of Xendra Giles) to the Council members about what to do with Acathla are basically a "good guy" version of this trope.
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{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Fanfic]]
[[Category:Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Fan Works]]
[[Category:Xena: Warrior Princess/Fan Works]]
[[Category:Fan Works of the 2010s]]
[[Category:Completed Fan Works]]
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