Sandlot Archivists' Favorite Fics' Journal

Title: Old Blood
Author:

nandibble
Genre: Drama, Romance
Status: Complete. First in a series.
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: S/B and S/D friendship
Spoiler: Post Showtime
Comments: Intense. The story literally sucks you in and invades your mind, consuming your attention until some ungodly hour of the night. Has quite a serious tone; this Spike is somewhat different from *my* Spike, but intriguing and utterly believable. I particularly enjoyed Dawn's gift to him and how it effects their relationship. Also fascinating is the dynamic that develops between 'his' SiT's and the other group.

Dunno what I'm talking about? Only one way to fix that...

Pssst! She has 3 more after this!! And this one is the shortest of the bunch. Lotsa reading in store...

Current Mood: contemplative

Hmmm. Been far too long since something was rec'd in here. Gotta change that.

Title: Past Glory
Author:

sp23
Genre: Romance, Drama
Status: WIP
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Spuffy
Spoiler: S5 up to 'Tough Love'. AU after that, with S6 elements throughout. For the purposes of this story, the Knights of Byzamtium, although suspecting the Slayer of protecting the Key are not aware that it's Dawn.
Comments: Good characterization. Intriguing plot. Spuffy Lovin'. Can't ask for much more than that. I could say more, or alternately? You can go read it. Now. Off with you.

Current Mood: satisfied

Barb Cummings: Necessary Evils
Title: Necessary Evils

Author: Barb Cummings

Genre: Drama, general

WIP or Complete: Complete

Rating: R

Pairing: Buffy/Spike

Spoiler: AU taking off after The Gift.

Comments: This is a splendid story -- it's long, but it never wears out its welcome. It's complex, but every thread is followed and resolved. The prose is smooth and involving. The characterizations are right on the mark. It's a page turner of the first order.

Title: After Dust

Author: emg

Genre: Drama

WIP or Complete: Complete

Rating: R

Pairing: Spike/Buffy

Spoiler: Through BtVS "Normal Again" and AtS "Forgiving"

Comments: An absolutely wonderful series in which Spike, drunk and depressed after his breakup with Buffy, makes a deal with Wolfram and Hart--and that's just never a good idea. Fascinating plot and very good characterization. Crossover with AtS.

Cynthia Martin: The Code of the Watchers
Title: The Code of the Watchers

Author: Cynthia Martin

Genre: Humor

WIP or Complete: WIP

Rating: R

Pairing: None so far, but hints of S/B

Spoiler: Post Chosen

Comments: This is one of the funniest stories I've ever read! It's a tale of post-Chosen life told from Giles' pov. The premise is that Spike returns (he pops out of an oven!) and Giles decides to train him as a Watcher. Unfortunately, Spike has decided he wants to become a monk to atone for his past.

Giles' voice is how I always imagined it to be: a combination of snarky and watcheresque.

A few quotes:

"Why, in all the world, the sovereign powers of heaven had Seen fit to deposit Spike on my doorstep was a question I had reviewed with not a little resentment, I have to admit. But there was an element of implied approval to it that was beginning to soothe my harried self-esteem. It Was abundantly clear that there were wheels within wheels: a vampire didn't get a soul and sacrifice himself on the altar of love every day, much less dust and reassemble in Nirvana to finally shoot out of an oven on a wave of Perfumed birthwater, terrifically shiny and human, no, not by a long chalk. The implications were, not to put it lightly, enormous."

And:

"Well, that was certainly bloody stupid," I hissed.

"And no worse than you deserve, thou son of perdition," Spike shot back.

I raised my eyebrows. Spike blinked.

"I mean," he amended, "You... rotter."

Go read this story - you won't be disappointed!

Lori: Piccadilly Circus and Going Underground
Piccadilly Circus and Going Underground
Author: Lori

Genre: Drama/General
WIP or Complete: Both complete

Rating: PG 13
Pairing: The ultimate Giles and Spike buddy fic series

Spoiler: Post-Grave. An AU Season 7
Comments: After being exposed to Giles this season, I thought it was time to take a look back at the optimism that was the Summer of '02. When we actually thought (and some of us still do) that Giles would be impressed at Spike's acquisition of a soul.

The initial stories are true buddy fics, but later 'the boys' go home and win their lady loves. There's plenty of action, plenty of adventure and lots of good times.

All of the stories in this series, which also includes Lori's "Every Day I Write the Book," "Wicked and Lazy", "Waiting on a Friend" and "Fortress Around Your Heart." have been saved by me on my hard drive and were actually emailed to parts unknown until the Sandlot went up. Now I just pop up the link!

If you haven't read it, be prepared to be delighted, thrilled, suspensed, and just plain filled with admiration. This is my favorite series AU of all time. I'm just sorry there's not more of it. This would have been the perfect premise for Ripper. Even without the ladies.

Kimi

Current Mood: chipper
Current Music: "Everyday I Write the Book"

Elsa Frohman: Countdown
Title: Countdown
Author: Elsa Frohman

Genre: Drama

WIP or Complete: Complete

Rating: PG13

Pairing: S/B

Spoilers: Through S6 -- Picks up at Grave and fills the gap til S7

Comments: Read it! This is one of the most inventive series of fics I've ever encountered. Late last summer, Elsa challenged herself to write a fic a day until the series began with Lessons in the fall. Elsa made me cry, made me laugh, and made me think and think and think. This has a little something for everyone. If you're a little disillusioned right now, this is just the ticket.

Thanks, Elsa, for writing this. It means more to me now than it did when we were all abuzz about how S7 would turn out.

Sandy: You Have to Love Her
Title: You Have to Love Her

Author: Sandy

Genre: Drama

WIP or Complete: WIP

Rating: NC17

Pairing: S/B

Spoilers: S4 - Wild at Heart; Goes AU from there

Comments: I am so very pleased with this fic! I have to admit that I love AU fics where we get to see what *could* have happened. This is the sequel to To Kill The Girl, which was already a wonderful hot little AU. I didn't really think you could improve on something that was as great as that, but Sandy has managed to.

Lots of Snarky!Spike, tender loving moments, freaked out Scoobies (With a *wonderful out of denial Xander moment!) and creepy Maggie Walsh action. It's fun just plain fun to read, moves along at a brisk pace and keeps delivering chapter after chapter.

What are you still doing here? Go read it!

Current Mood: chipper

Perletwo: Burn It All Away
Title: Burn It All Away Series

Author: Perletwo

Genre: Erotica

WIP or Complete: Complete

Rating: NC-17

Pairing: S/B

Spoiler: S2

Comments: This series always manages to blow me away. It's set during S2 after Angel has lost his soul. P2 stays true to the events of the season, but these stories take place between episodes: What could have happened when the cameras weren't rolling.

Her characterizations are spot on, the plot well developed, and the smut...let's just say that it is hot, hot, hot!

Go read this series right now!!

Estepheia: Perdition Catch My Soul
Title: Perdition Catch My Soul

Author: Estepheia

Genre: Slash

WIP or Complete: WIP

Rating: NC-17

Pairing: Spike/Xander

Spoiler: Season 7, Beneath You

Comments: This is a really interesting slashy take on the way Spike and Xander's relationship might evolve in season seven. Both Spike and Xander are going through some really bad times and this fic reflects that. Most Spike/Xander pieces need to be AU in order to get the characters together but this fic does it in a way that is totally in line with current canon and character development and it does so wonderfully.

Current Mood: enthralled

Caro: Card Sharp
Title: Card Sharp

Author: Caro

Genre: Humor, General

WIP or Complete: WIP

Rating: PG-13

Pairing: Vaguely Buffy/Spike, also Harmony/I'm not going to ruin the surprise

Spoiler: Season 6

Comments: Whenever I need a good giggle I come back to this story. One of the reasons I love this show as much as I do is because of the rich characters. Even the secondary characters are so much fun and one of my favorites is Harmony. She is so funny and so shallow and so very Harmony and Caro captures her perfectly.

Current Mood: giggly

Barb Cummings: Necessary Evils
Title: Necessary Evils

Author: Barb Cummings

Genre: Drama, Ensemble

WIP or Complete: WIP

Rating: R

Pairing: Spike/Buffy

Spoiler: Season 6

Comments: The novel-length sequel to Barb's brilliant "A Raising in the Sun". Buffy's back from the dead and evil is afoot once again. On top of that she has to deal with the fact that she is involved with a soulless vampire. This is one of my all-time favorite fics. It unfolds like the best of Buffy seasons and the characters are so incredibly well done. I love the way Barb takes already-established character traits and proceeds to develop the characters in a way very different from what the show did but does it just as realistically as anything we would ever see on screen. And it's got a plot to boot!

Current Mood: energetic

Illyria: Fair Play
Title: Fair Play

Author: Illyria

Genre: Slash

WIP or Complete: WIP

Rating: NC-17

Pairing: Spike/Xander

Spoiler: Season 2

Comments: This is the kind of story I love. It's AU Season 2 and dark and sexy and oh so fun. Xander is a changed man and nothing is ever going to be the same. And he's taking Spike along for the ride. I really liked the way the author used things we'd already seen about Xander's personality and allowed them to surface. This is the person that was always there but that was kept under control by his own inherent decency. Be warned, it is a dark story but it's a very fun darkness.

Current Mood: satisfied
Current Music: Going Under by Evanescence

Title: The Serpentigena Sequence

Author: Magpie

Genre: Ensemble/Drama

WIP or Complete: WIP

Rating: NC-17

Pairing: B/S, F/W primary pairings, some m/m as well

Spoiler: Season 6

Comments: This is an incredible story. Magpie takes the 'seconds', the second vampire, the second slayer, the second watcher and tells a story that's not like any fic I've ever read. The characters and their relationships are even better than the plot and the plot is fantastic. It's not fluff, sad and terrible things happen, but it's not heart-shredding angst either. It's romantic and scary and erotic and just edge of the chair, 'don't talk to me I'm reading' good.

Kimi: Wolf
Title: Wolf

Author: Kimi

Genre: Romance Action/Adventure

WIP or Complete: WIP

Rating: PG13

Pairing: Spike/Buffy

Spoiler: AU post S6

Comments: A great story, all around. It's a sequel to Shepherd, which was a sequel to several other stories. It deals with Souled, unchipped Spike, who has found his place in the world as the leader of a military unit of non-evil vampires created by the Initiative. In addition to a very believeable development of the Spike/Buffy romance, Kimi gives us a variety of rich, three-dimensional original characters, including Daniel, Spike's vampire right-hand man, and Deluca, possibly the world's first cartoonist vampire. Add to that a tense plot involving a very bad vamp, who's come to town with a grudge involving Spike, and you've got a story that shouldn't be missed.

Kimi's writing style is crisp, straight-forward and evocative.

Current Mood: awake

Terri Botta: Here is Gone
Title: Here Is Gone

Author: Terri Botta

Genre: Drama

WIP or Complete: Complete

Rating: PG

Pairing: S/B

Spoiler: S5-6

Comments: In this story, Spike, after receiving his soul, is allowed to go back in time to change a few things. He arrives back in early S5. Joyce is alive, Riley is still there and Glory is looking for her key.

What I found most interesting was rather than seeing events through an outside character, we see them through the eyes of souled Spike. The insight he's always had is greater now since he's already lived through it all.

This story is at times dramatic, funny and heartbreaking as Spike learns what he can and cannot change.

Terri's writing is crisp and fluid. She draws us into the story early on and doesn't let go until the end. She maintains the drama and tension, which is difficult to do with a long series.

I highly recommend this story!

Kalima: Nicolette Says Jump
Title: Nicolette Says Jump

Author: Kalima

Genre: Erotica

WIP or Complete: WIP

Rating: R

Pairing: Spike/Nicolette with a liberal helping of Xander mixed in...

Spoiler: De Nada. Set S4, when Spike was living with Giles.

Comments: I really get a kick out of all of Kalima's work. She really has a gift for story ideas that grab the attention, dialog that makes you sit up and take notice and internal character musings that are spot on.

This story, however, appealed to me from a personal standpoint. The summary states "Spike has a yen for a big girl." Well, being a big girl myself, I just *had* to read it - and boy, am I glad I did! It's fabulous! I appreciate the way that Spike waxes on to Xander about the joys of a substantial woman, all the attributes a man could appreciate if he would just pay attention and *see* her instead of passing her over.

And then there is Spike's little speech to Nicolette about exactly what he could do to her. That was just amazing. And wow. And *pant*. If a man came up to me in a bar and told me stuff like that, I think I'd take him home, too...

I'm willing to send Kalima Purdy's Chocolate by Express Post if it will help her complete this fic.

Current Mood: naughty

Caro: Secrets and Lies
Title: Secrets and Lies

Author: Caro

Genre: General

WIP or Complete:WIP

Rating: PG13

Pairing: Spike/Buffy

Spoiler: Through "Awakening" on AtS and "Storyteller" on BtVS

Comments: I can't praise this story enough. The character voices are right on, the plot is engrossing, and we're getting interactions I'd pay good money to see on the shows. Definitely worth your time.

Current Mood: artistic

Kimi: Story of B
Title: Story of B

Author: Kimi

Genre: Erotica/Drama

WIP or Complete: Complete

Rating: NC-17 (but only two chapters -- most is R or PG13)

Pairing: S/B, but *not* fluff.

Spoiler: S6 up through As You Were

Comments: This is Kimi's most underappreciated work, in my opinion. She takes us from that kiss in Tabula Rasa all the way through the end in As You Were, showing us what the living hell was going on in Buffy's head. It's a masterpiece of character and voice that makes sense out of the darkness that S/B became in S6. Fair warning: don't expect a truly happy ending. But *do* expect a satisfying one.

Current Mood: content

my first rec!
Title: Seven Years in the Desert

Author: Caro aka

spikewriter

Genre: Drama, perhaps some Angsty Romance

WIP or Complete: WIP

Rating: R

Pairing: Spike and Buffy, kind of

Spoiler: Through Grave, AU after that

Comments: I fell in love with this fic shortly before Shoreleave last summer. It's a rich tale of whatifs, springing from the concept of what if Spike and Buffy don't reconcile. How are their lives impacted by this? Caro writes a very believable Buffy in her late twenties facing very true personal decisions. Her Spike has grown as well, and has an interesting life independent of hers. Will beat Caro with a stick if she never finishes it. Have not been disappointed by any of this tale.

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