Current mood:

busy

Spander Fic Recs
Here's a listing of my favorite S/X fics, partially to keep it as a convenient record for my own reference, and partially in case anyone else wants some recommendations. I'll list authors by their LJ usernames when possible, because many of them write additional fic in their journals which isn't archived elsewhere. Warning: Almost all of these fics are rated NC-17.

Disclaimer: I'm not necessarily saying that these are the best fics around or the most well-written (though I do feel that way about some of the fics on this list) ... I'm just saying I like them. If a story caters to my emotional kinks (e.g., h/c, amnesia, reluctant Xander, vulnerable Spike, angsty false assumptions about the unrequitedness of their feelings, etc.), I can sometimes have a high tolerance for cliched plot and/or OOC characterizations. It's all a matter of taste.

Favorite Spander Fics

ahestele's Caught -- Season 7 Spike and Xander end up trapped in a car in a blizzard, and their snarking ends up leading to a sort of dare to have sex. I like Ahestele's characterizations here. She writes a crazy!souled!Spike that doesn't annoy me (which some of them do), and her Xander has a nice tinge of resentment and defensiveness.

ahestele's Midnight at L.A.X. -- I'm so glad tiashome recommended Ahestele's fic to me, because I hadn't read any of it before and this one immediately became one of my favorites. It's set 15 years after the end of season 6 (but season 7 never happened), starting with a chance meeting between Spike and Xander which leads into what I like to call angsty schmoop or schmoopy angst. A nice combination of romance and emotional hesitations and miscommunication eventually set aright. Oh, and smut.

Alexandria's Waiting Here -- Spike and Xander are OOCly romantic/sweet in this angst-fest of rape, torture, incest, self-mutilation, attempted murder, and god knows what else ... mixed in with ultra-schmoopy romance. But I've read it more than once and enjoyed it every time. If you like some serious angst and h/c, you should check it out.

Anna S. (eliade)'s Sidelines -- An alternative Season 4, with added smut. Instead of Willow falling for Tara and realizing she's gay, it's Xander who goes through the coming-out drama as he falls for Spike. Everything Anna S. writes is amazing, and this is no exception. Great characterizations, great plot, great everything. I bow at her feet in awe, as always.

Anna S. (eliade)'s Subtleties -- Heartbreakingly wonderful whore!Spike fic full of emotional manipulation of the very best sort. Anna wrote this in a very unusual way, scribbling it in her LiveJournal as if she were just kicking around ideas of scenes, but the informality of the style works surprisingly well. Much of it is dialogue, which is written amazingly in-character. One of the plot turns, in particular, sticks in my brain and makes me cry every single time I read this. Sometimes I revisit this story just to reread the section that wrenches my heart. I love this fic big-time.

Anna S. (eliade)'s A Week of Wrong -- Terribly funny, including a scene in which a very (unintentionally) high Spike makes me almost cry laughing. I find myself nearly uncontrollably tempted to quote favorite lines here, but can't seem to narrow the choices down to a manageable few. Hee. Just read it.

Anna S. (eliade)'s Your Horoscope For Today -- This is the fic Anna S. wrote for me in the Spander Inquisition ficathon, in which events conspire to show Xander an unexpected side of Spike ... and some unexpected aspects of himself, as well. Yummy amnesia h/c. I love me some amnesia h/c.

anniesj's Spanderverse -- Wonderful season 4 Spike/Xander smut, with both of them getting reluctantly drawn to each other against their will. They still insist they can't stand each other, and yet there's something else going on at the same time, something tenderly needful developing between them. It's aching and sweet and lovely.

benaresq's Raising the Stakes -- A short Season 4 basement smut that's hot as hell. Just smut smut smut.

byrne's Truth or Dare -- Very cute fluffy smut. More romantic than smutty, really.

china_shop's This Year's Vamp -- Spike and Xander accidentally swap bodies a la Buffy/Faith in "This Year's Girl." Except Spike and Xander stick together instead of racing off in different directions, and things get just a little (understatement) hot.

cicirossi's Chocolate Hurricane -- This is one of my very favorite S/X stories, because it's funny and sexy at the same time, with a fluffy h/c element, and I love the characterizations. It's lovely light reading.

Circe (circe_tigana)'s Coming Home -- Light, yet angsty short fic (complete with character death) that somehow manages to communicate a world of emotional depth with very few words. From the start of the fic to the end, the perspective on what's happening changes drastically, but the change happens with grace and a heart-breaking clarity. Yes, there is angst, but I don't find the story depressing at all.

Crazy Evil Dru and Evil Willow's Chance Encounters: Version Spike-Xander -- If you can bear the red and green text on black background, this one is fun to read as long as you don't take it too seriously. It's a reluctant, coerced stripper!Xander with a fairly evil chipless, soulless Spike who's got that sexy self-confidence thing going on. The story was obviously written as a sort of smut-intensive RPG, but the style didn't bother me too much at all.

Esmeralda's The Deal -- This is actually the first chapter in a longer series which is A/S/X (if I remember correctly), but this first chapter is just S/X and I think it works perfectly fine as a stand-alone. Very hot first-time smut. This is one of the smut fics that I find remarkably believable. Esmeralda came up with a storyline that had me utterly convinced.

estepheia's Cues and Balls -- A season 7 one-shot snarkfest while the two guys play pool at The Bronze, with the competitive snarking leading to a rather different kind of tension.

estepheia's Pandoraverse -- A wonderful series of short smut fics set in Season 7, with an adorably vulnerable newly-souled Spike. I love love love this series and have read it several times. I love her characterizations of both Spike and Xander, and find the entire fic emotionally realistic -- not too shmoopy and not too angsty.

estepheia's Perdition Catch My Soul -- Another h/c fic (because I love them so), in which Xander is the one who follows Spike into the church (in Season 7's "Beneath You") and first learns about the soul, rather than Buffy. Things progress from there, with Xander dealing with the vulnerable newly-souled and mildly crazy Spike. Good good good good. I check it occasionally for updates, ever hopeful. I should really send her feedback to let her know how much I long for more of this story. WIP.

estepheia's Sixty Minutes -- Estepheia's own response to her challenge on Nummytreats: Has to be set in S7: In order to make peace with Xander, (or at least a kind of ceasefire) Spike offers Xander an opportunity to get even: One hour of payback for past insults and Spike's involvement with Anya: "Sixty minutes. You say it - I do it. You dish it - I take it." Estepheia's version is dark and twisted and angsty, including non-consensual sex and physical and emotional torture. Still, it's compelling and excellently written. (For another excellent -- and less dark -- response to the same challenge, check out Anna S.'s Closure.)

estepheia and ladycat777's Checkmate -- A short fic in which Spike and Xander put on a bit of a show for a visiting member of the Watchers' Council, stirring up some unexpected stuff. This one is both funny and sexy.

felisblanco's There's a Thin Line Between Hate and Sex -- Just your basic hot smut between two buys who hate each other.

firehorse's Two Beer Queer -- Just a short, light fic with Xander and Spike messing around while drunk -- repeatedly -- and not acknowledging it while sober. I've seen this basic plot premise before, but this is a unexpectedly (and pleasantly) fluffy look at the situation.

fitofpique's Keeper series -- An untitled series that begins with the fic "Keeper" (which takes place during the BTVS episode "Sleeper") and then progresses through rescuing Xander when he's bleeding onto the seal, all the way into the BTVS episode "Get It Done." The author does an excellent job of using the canon events and reworking them into an S/X story. I really hope she's planning to continue this, but I'm not sure if the author considers it a WIP.

flaming_muse's Conjunctions Series -- This series set in season 4 started out as a joke (in "Candlelight and Roses"), but eventually grew to be more interesting than that. Eventually complete with hot porn.

Green (xanphibian)'s Addiction -- A brief look at Xander feeling sexually addicted to Spike. Focused more on thoughts and feelings than description of events, it is nonetheless extremely sexy.

Green (xanphibian)'s Amnesia!Xander -- A really interesting fic that focuses on a canon-in-his-mind Xander waking up with amnesia, only to learn (much to his shock, disbelief, and dismay) that he has apparently been in a relationship with Spike for the past few years he doesn't remember. Because it's told primarily from Xander's point of view, this is also a great meta-fic look at criticisms of the unbelievability of Spike/Xander slash. I love this story. Unfortunately, it isn't finished and Green hasn't written anything on it in about 3 months. I hope she'll regain interest in it, because it's definitely worth continuing.

Green (xanphibian) and ladycat777's Figured You Out -- A short one-shot smut fic filled with domination/submission-type kink stuff. Incredibly hot, but then that could be assumed simply from knowing the names of the authors.

Green (xanphibian) and ladycat777's Fragment -- An eventually extremely smutty h/c fic written on LiveJournal through posts and comments by both authors. It's kind of emotionally messed up and twisted, in that the Xander in the fic has been severely brutalized and is almost not recognizable as the same person, but if h/c is your thing then you probably won't mind. Personally, I love it to death and idolize both authors for writing such lovely fic. I love them. Love love love. WIP.

Green (xanphibian) and ladycat777's A Place Called Home -- Extremely schmoopy fic focusing on Xander having a very girly crush on Spike. I'm not usually fond of schmoop, but this fic just charms me and makes me smile.

jackson_rayne's Divided, Two's Company, and Male Bonding -- When the demon Toth uses his magic stick to split someone in half (in the Season 5 episode "The Replacement"), he hits Spike instead of Xander, and Spike is split into his vulnerable side and his demony side. The third fic -- apparently the final installment in this story -- is not yet completed, and is being written in the author's journal. My only quibble with these is that without benefit of a beta reader, Jackson's fics tend to have everyone speaking like Brits (which makes sense, since the author lives in Liverpool, England). But I don't mind Xander talking about "buying petrol" or "ringing someone" if it means I get to read a good plot full of emotional complexity.

jackson_rayne's Sweet Revenge -- One of my absolute favorite S/X fics. Very angsty, with quite a bit of borderline non-consensual sex and a lot of emotional manipulation. And yet it ends up being very romantic and heart-wrenching ... it's just a rocky road to get there. Great story!

jameschick has a lot of fic on her site, which varies in quality. The characterizations lean toward the schmoopy side, but I personally have a high tolerance for OOCness, and Jameschick has a knack for coming up with fresh and interesting story ideas, which keeps me coming back. Her epic Quantum Xander, for example, begins with a premise that I found fascinating. You can read my blunt, honest, complete review of Quantum Xander here. I must admit, though, that reading my review again makes me want to go back and revisit the story, since it's now finished and has a completed sequel. I have a sneaking suspicion that some of my problems with the story may have been resolved.

janedavitt's Predatory Acts and Preying on my Mind -- Spike meets Hyena!Xander (during the Season 1 episode "The Pack"), and much hotness -- and even some romance -- results.

Jenni's The Spaces In Between -- A similar premise to Green's Amnesia!Xander -- Xander wakes up in the hospital with amnesia, only to find that he has forgotten the past few years, including his entire romantic relationship with Spike -- but not quite as well executed, because the characterizations are just a bit too schmoopy for my tastes. But the one thing it has over Green's version? It's complete. Definitely worth a look.

juliatheyounger's Escape -- Nicely angsty romantic smut that addresses how badly the Scoobies (with a focus on Xander, of course) tend to use and abuse Spike, and how he feels about the whole thing. It's a great fic for Spike fans, since it takes a very sympathetic view of his efforts to help the Scoobs in the fight against evil.

juliatheyounger's We're Not Gay. We're Just Friends. Who Have Sex. -- Funny, romantic smut, with a bit of light angst. This was the first story that made me actually appreciate slash, and I've read it many times. In fact, I worried that I might accidentally plagiarize it when I wrote my recent S/X story, because I've read it so many times that it feels like canon to me.

Kay Tee's Guilt, Horror, Love -- An interestingly structured fic (it's not entirely chronological, and so context gradually becomes clearer as the story goes on) with some rather OOC characterizations (in that the guys are rather schmoopier than canon), but the OOCness isn't extreme and didn't bother me. It's set after season 6, with Xander encountering a vulnerably souled Spike before anyone else realizes he's in town. I'd call this one angsty schmoop h/c, which is a category I particulary enjoy.

Kayla's Sweet Memories -- Fluffy, schmoopy, ultra-romantic amnesia smut. I found some of the "previous life" elements in this story too sappy even for me, but it's pretty easy to just ignore the parts that go a bit over the top. And, me, I love amnesia. In this case, they've both got amnesia.

I could probably list almost all of LadyCat's fics here -- because they're all excellent and most are also extremely hot -- but I'll just focus on my favorites and encourage you to read the rest.

LadyCat (ladycat777)'s Hunt-Brother -- Mind control, submission/domination, non-romantic smut which eventually gets sort of twistedly romantic despite itself. I enjoy the first few chapters of this one particularly much. In fact, I've read the first few chapters enough that I fear they too might sneak into my own fic in accidental plagiarism. WIP.

LadyCat (ladycat777)'s Lessons (with additional snippets in her LiveJournal here, here, and here) -- This one seems to hit a lot of my kink buttons. It's got whore!Spike, amnesia (of a "this person has been conditioned to be a mindless slave" type), and a reluctant dom!Xander. All of these combine to make for great fic. The basic premise is that the chip doesn't just cause Spike pain when he causes pain ... it also causes him pleasure when he causes pleasure. A novel idea. This fic has a lot in common with fragment_rpg (which I love with a devoted passion), though Spike and Xander's positions have been reversed.

LadyCat (ladycat777)'s Quarry -- A one-shot (with an additional snippet in her journal here) showcasing a wonderfully nefarious Spike, subtly manipulating Xander into submitting to him, into wanting to submit to him.

LadyCat (ladycat777)'s Silk -- Funny smut with a fantasy element, because a spell sets the guys to acting literally out of character, as they periodically take on the personalities of an Arabian Nights-style slave and his master. Their reactions are priceless. This one makes me chuckle every time I read it.

LadyCat (ladycat777)'s Soul -- Touching AU Season 7 exploration of a newly-souled Spike connecting with a post-wedding fiasco Xander. WIP.

Laikokae's What Makes Us -- Angsty h/c. Mostly emotional interactions, rather than smut, with an emphasis on tenderness and shmoop. Angel doesn't come out looking so good in this one.

Lazuli's Hunger -- Angsty romantic smut.

Lazuli's Moments -- Angsty, romantic, post-season-7 fic in which Xander tries to resurrect Anya, but ends up with Spike instead. Lazuli's characterizations are often a bit overly schmoopy (which is true in all of her fics I've read), but it's still good stuff.

Lazuli's Repossession -- Epic angsty h/c which had me spellbound for about 100 chapters, but I eventually stopped reading the updates. I'll certainly check it out one of these days, now that it's finished, to find out how it all shook down. You should be warned that this fic is chock full of references to squicky things like torture and rape ... hence the "h" which requires the "c" of h/c. The characterizations are uneven and the plot is a bit overly complicated, but if you like seriously angsty h/c, you should give it a look. Personally, I absolutely LOVED the first 50 or 60 chapters, and many of the angstiest bits have made me cry even on repeated re-readings.

Mad Poetess (mpoetess)'s Chocolatey Goodness -- Humorous and smutty unfinished epic with a prominent chocolate theme. The plot started going in some unexpected and rather odd directions not long before it went on indefinite hiatus a couple years ago. WIP.

metaforgirl's Payless -- A post-Season 7 human!Spike epic, including lots of interaction with Angel and his L.A. crew and various other non-canon pairings (such as Giles/Willow, Angel/Wesley, a bit of Spike/Andrew, and several more, including some OCs). Some of the plot elements of this one -- specifically, some unnecessarily complicated stuff about a magic wand -- don't work for me, but the story overall is very emotionally interesting, making it worth re-reading, as far as I'm concerned. Metaforgirl's stories (including both this one and Who Wants To Live Forever?, described below) tend to start out focusing tightly on the developing relationship between Spike and Xander for about half the fic, and then suddenly shift to plots that involve tons of other characters and abruptly-introduced plot contrivances and such. I tend to enjoy the well-focused first part of each of her stories more than the convoluted second part. Your mileage may vary.

metaforgirl's Who Wants To Live Forever? -- I just love the first half of this fic, all filled with angst and hurt and miscommunication and lingering resentments. The story is set about 5 years after Buffy's death at the end of season 5. Some pretty serious emotional shit happened between Spike and Xander all those years ago, and Xander has been gone since, but now he's returning to Sunnydale for Dawn's wedding, and he and Spike have to face each other again. In later chapters, the fic veers away from its focus on the two guys' emotions (as I mentioned above, this same basic plot shift also happens in her story Payless) and becomes filled with Watchers and Initiative guys and the proverbial Evil!Riley (who is so common in Spike/Xander epics, such as jameschick's Quantum Xander and Lazuli's Repossession), all of which interests me less ... but I still love all that earlier angst.

poshcat's Brothers in Arms -- A short post-Chosen meeting at Wolfram & Hart turns smutty.

rubywisp's FDR -- Set during an alternate season 7 in which Spike is a bit more sane and has been living with Xander longer. This is another fic that just begs to be quoted. Oh, hell, I'll indulge myself just this once, with just a snippet of Xander's dialogue from very early in the fic: "Listen, buddy - and I use the term loosely, in an 'I'm trying to keep from using the word 'asshole'' way here - the idea was for me to be open to new experiences. Try something different. There was nothing about being molested in the fine print of our insano deal." Hee! It sounds so very very Xander! I love Ruby's characterizations, because she always manages to make the guys seem believable, and yet make the smut believable too. That's a feat most slashfic writers (and I'm including myself in this category) can't handle. I love this fic muchly. Oh, and the title cracks me up. Hee! If you read the fic, you'll understand.

rubywisp's The Spanish Inquisition -- A lovely, sexy two-parter that takes place in Season 7. Mostly smut, but really enjoyable characterization and hotness.

Rune's The State We're In -- Short, dark fic that's basically a non-consensual sex situation. Basically a graphic rape (though the situation is a bit more complicated than that), which makes me hesitant to recommend the fic, since that's just not generally my thing for a multitude of reasons. And the fic doesn't flinch away from the ugliness of the situation. But the emotional complexity of the story makes it interesting to me, and I find the connection that's forged between Spike and Xander somehow honest and believable. I'm still a bit squeamish about recommending a rape fic, but there you have it.

sajinn's Day of Days and Night of Nights -- Long serial smut that tries to hit every possible kink at some point or other. I like the early chapters a lot, but I lost interest part-way into "Night of Nights" and stopped reading. Still, I've re-read the early parts more than once, because they're fun.

saussy's Pantomime -- Saussy's contribution to the Spander Inquisition, a one-shot look at the good and bad of Xander's demon-magnetism. A bit of angst, a bit of schmoop.

saussy's Talky Sex -- Hysterically funny one-shot season 7 phone sex fic mostly consisting of dialogue. Hee. Makes me laugh every time. (For some other phone sex fics, you might also want to check out Kayla's Press "2" and its sequel Press...)

saussy and Wiseacress (witling)'s Basement of Debasement -- Spike. Xander. A basement. This fic is being written as funny/sexy snippets in the two authoress's journals, and you should read it. Really.

shrift's Loserville -- Another really funny one. Xander has no life. Spike has no life. They end up having no life together, with much hotness and much funny along the way.

spikedluv's When Visions Come True -- Adorably shmangsty unrequited love fic. Awwww. I'm a sucker for pining.

spikedluv's Women Suck -- A series of 6 unapologetically PWP fics (which are really so connected as to be chapters of one larger fic) filled with hot smut. Mmm ... smut. The very fluffy sixth and final segment of the story isn't archived with the first five at Shadows & Dust (which is the main link I give for the fic because they've got all the chapters linked together for convenient reading), but it can be found on Spikedluv's own site here. The story, such as it is, really isn't complete without that final chapter, but all the really hot smut happens in the earlier chapters. And who needs story when you've got hot smut? Mmm ... smut.

Spurglie's Joined at the Hip -- Spike and Xander get trapped together thanks to a pair of magicked handcuffs, and things eventually turn smutty. (I know I read some other responses to this fic challenge, but I can't seem to find them anymore. If you know of good ones, let me know.)

Two Ladies of Quality's Steam and Touch -- "Steam" and its sequel "Touch" are set in season 6 surrounding Xander's wedding-that-wasn't. In the first part, Spike and Xander encounter each other at a bath house and end up seeing each other differently, with a focus on Xander's vulnerability about Anya. In the second part, the two guys encounter each other again (during an alternate version of the episode "Seeing Red") and further their connection begun at the steam room, with more of a focus on Spike's vulnerability about Buffy. The emphasis is on the emotional reactions of both characters, and both are well-written.

Velvet Crypt's Family -- I find it difficult to explain exactly why I like this story so much, given the fact that the characters are nearly unrecognizable as having anything in common with their canon counterparts, but it's true ... I do like this story. I might even go so far as to say I love this story. It's sweet and romantic and just a little bit angsty, and I just enjoy the story it tells.

Velvet Crypt's Lost -- Fluffy romantic h/c amnesia smut that makes me smile. This is my favorite of the "Spike is seriously injured and ends up thinking Xander is his sire" fics, which are surprisingly numerous. (For an even fluffier approach to the same theme, check out MJ Gage's Precious.)

The Webrain's Night Watch -- Pretty much just pure hot smut ... but a good short fic for the times when I don't feel like reading an epic.

wesleysgirl's Hold Me Down -- I would call this short fic h/c, though it fits the category rather loosely, since the hurt is purely emotional and is expressed more as self-destructive behavior. However you classify it, the smut is very very very very nice.

wesleysgirl's Seeing Distant Things As If They Were Close -- Fabulous season 7 fic focusing on Xander after he's lost his eye, with souled Spike still staying with him and their relationship growing in different directions in the wake of the injury, primarily through their shared despair and need.

Wiseacress (witling)'s Boglescatverse -- Lovely h/c which focuses on a slowly evolving relationship between Xander and Spike (who has suddenly contracted a mysterious ailment), such that the smut -- when it eventually comes -- is filled with meaning and feeling. Wiseacress is a simply amazing writer, always able to wring strong emotions out of me, and this fic is no exception. I love this story to pieces, and cry myself to sleep every night about the fact that it isn't finished. Okay, no, not really. But I do wish for more! WIP (*cries*).

Wiseacress (witling)'s Lt. Uhura and the Change of Life -- I'm not generally fond of fics that start with Spike and Xander already in an established relationship -- I'm more into the whole angsting about getting together sort of deal -- but this fic won me over anyway. It's a one-shot AU (well, in a "Spike and Xander are together" sort of way, not a "they're both human and attending Sunnydale High together" sort of way), mostly schmoop.

Wiseacress (witling)'s Prawnverse -- Angsty power-dynamic fic, this time with whore!Xander taken in by souled Spike, and paying his rent on his back. It's an interesting emotional dynamic, with Spike starting out as the one in a position of power in their interactions, but that power gradually shifting away from him, slipping through his grasp against his will. Wiseacress writes incredibly vivid and moving emotional interactions, even when there isn't smut. But the smut is damn good, too. This is just excellent stuff, and I can't praise it highly enough. The final chapter almost always makes me cry when I re-read it.

wisteria_'s Heroes -- Set after the AtS episode "Destiny," this one-shot fic presents a rather bleak (and yet strangely hopeful) view of Spike and Xander turning to each other out of despair and a shared sense of loss. Beautiful.

Yindagger (secondverse)'s 29 Linear Moves and its sequel 49 Circular Moves -- A sequence of related drabbles (but really more cohesive than that description implies) structured around the names of sequences of tai chi moves. The story is set during the summer after season 5, when both Spike and Xander are hurting. Yindagger's perspective on them is gentle and compassionate, focusing on the quiet sadness that can sometimes draw people together, all communicated in a beautiful use of language and imagery. The resulting two fics are graceful and lovely. I wonder if I was the only person in S/X fandom who hadn't read these. I just can't imagine how I've missed them for so long.


If anyone else has S/X recommendations, I'd be delighted to hear of them.