I wonder if his race is that way in general, or if it's just his own personality?

Good question, and that's entirely up in the air isn't it? He's basically thrown into S6 as a two-plot device 1) as a friend/ confidant for Spike (Tara functions similarly for Buffy in DT & OAFA so it makes sense that the two of them meet in that latter episode); and the whole "shades of grey" thing going on in the later seasons (demons can love, heroes can do awful things, humans can be monstrous, etc.)

I've had a lot of fun keeping most of my fanfics in one continuity.

I like the developments because it's allowed you to have some real fun with the characters. I have a fondness for the idea of continuous verses anyway and some of my favorite fanfic works are "verses". If I like the characters, I want to spend time with them.

the story in your verse where everyone pulls the wool over Riley's eyes and Bottie is JUST SO THRILLED to have finally passed as Buffy? Love that. Especially since it was my intro story to Four Friends so I was just as confused as Riley and had no idea what was going on and you pulled the wool over my eyes as well, and, 2) I'm not fond of Riley in general (I've already written about this).