I think Riley is problematic because the PTB are sending us mixed messages about normalcy the entire time he is there. On the one hand, he is set up as the good guy who can give the heroine the sane, safe, *clean* love she ought to want - most clearly evidenced in the ep where Faith is in Buffy's body and offers Riley all sorts of kinky sex, only to be truly, deeply touched when he opts for sweet vanilla flavour. Riley's brand of normal is very clearly showcased as of the good in that scene. On the other hand, at the same time Spike is constantly dangling the dangerous and perverted in front of both the audience and Buffy, and making it look damn good. What he points out to Buffy is a passion that dares to touch the dark side of human existence, and which because of that reaches deeper than anything Riley could offer her. Is it sane? - Of course not. But the force of it says that sanity is overrated and guys like Riley are living only half lives. So the message is double, and gets perhaps more so when Riley himself starts chasing the darkness to understand its appeal for Buffy. Though I too think of BtVS as a deeply subversive show, I really don't know what they were trying to say there.

When it comes to fanfic, my Buffyverse interests were always more focused on Angel. I like Angel/Spike, or indeed all types of stories centred around the dysfunctional family unit of Angel/Darla/Dru/Spike, and I can enjoy good Wesley stories. The only things I wrote myself that I'm proud of, though, are Angel/Doyle. Doyle was my boy, identification-wise. I very much liked writing him.