letters
by tabaqui
(Spike/Xander, NC17)

Out of all the fics that Tabaqui has written (and every one is both memorable and worth returning to), this is the one I love the best. Although this fic is structured around letters, it’s really what doesn’t get said that’s most important sometimes. Tabaqui is a phenomenal writer who adores S/X, and it shows. Both Spike and Xander are hurt on some level, both looking to heal. What’s it all about? Well, in case you hadn’t noticed, when Spike comes back on AtS, he’s a bit at odd ends. Kind of like Xander might be after the end of Btvs. This fic explores what could have happened, what I'd almost like to think have happened, if the Scoobies had descended on Ats at the right time, and Spike and Xander were the ones who decided to head off, see a bit of the world, and then find each other while they were doing it.

subtleties
by anna_s / eliade
(Spike/Xander, NC17)

Anna S (eliade) is another one of those authors who is practically cannon in my universe. When I read the first paragraph of this fic, I wondered what the heck I'd gotten into. I was confused. I was intrigued. I felt a little like a perv. At the same time, I read further and found that it is this wonderful, beautiful and often lyrical story. This particular work is entirely self-indulgent, entirely bizarre, yet at the same time it really works at the end. When I was done I was amazed that something so resonant came from such an inauspicious beginning. The premise? Spike is a professional escort in New York and Xander is sent to fetch him and bring him back to a Sunnydale that never fell into the hellmouth. Xander's ridiculously wealthy, and they mess around, and mess around, and mess around some more and it turns into something truly beautiful.

incident on the bay of the descending dragon
by reremouse
(Spike/Xander, NC17)

Ok, just like Eliade and Tabaqui, I'm heartily and deeply in love with everything Reremouse has ever written. This fic isn't her longest. Nor is it her most complicated. Nor is it her most serious or her most avant-guard. Incident on the Bay of the Descending Dragon is, however, one of the sweetest fics. Sweet in a horny, beautiful, uncomplicatedly complicated kind of way. It's post series, and Xander arrives in Vietnam to collect a slayer and finds... Spike. Reremouse can create beautiful pictures with an economy of words that I not only envy, I find myself falling into. Sights, sounds, smells, and smiles.

lessons in cool: that music thing & being john wayne
by tesla321 and dessert_first
(Xander/Oz, R)

I tried this fic way back in the day when I wasn't the fanfic wench I am now. It was one of those rainy days where I'd stumbled on a recs list and decided why not. And, here you are, a fic that's a little different and entirely sweet tale. Something about young boys, something about the wonder in this story, just touched me. The first is a story about Oz teaching Xander a little guitar. The second is after the cannon events from S3 with the Xander/Willowness, but is an entirely different take on the Xander/Oz reconciliation. This is the story that made me understand how very adorable these two could be with each other.

nexus
by rakshathewolf
(Xander/Angel(us), NC17)

This fic crosses a lot of timelines, but the bulk of the story is set in Season 2, after Angelus makes his lovely return. He decides he'd rather hunt Xander than Buffy, and yes, it's *that* kind of a hunt. It's also a hurt-comfort fic of epic proportions (and actually, the only fic I feel I should include warnings about as there is rape, non-con, and some very painful material). At the same time, the pain is also what makes the pleasure of the story so wonderful to read, and what makes the ending so happy.

dreamland
by soft_princess
(Giles/Xander/Wesley, NC17)

This is the only fic I've presented today that's an AU - quoting from Sofy's summary: Giles is an English Literature teacher specialized in mythology and folklore; Wesley is a book shop owner who used to be Giles' teacher assistant; Xander is a carpenter working for his own account who used to be in Giles and Wesley's class. BUT, that tells you nothing about how magnificent this fic is. The episodes can be taken as stand alone and complete (although Sofy may add something to them if the muse inspires her). Now, as for the fic itself, it is hot. Burning, sizzling hot. Eye-crossingly hot. And sweet, and gentle, and truly beautiful to read. Sofy has such a gentle heart, and it shows in every line how much she loves these three gentlemen characters.

why do you breathe?
by savoytruffle
(Giles/Xander, NC17)

Savoytruffle's style is hard to explain, while at the same time it imprints itself on me in a textured way that I cannot escape. For about a month after I'd read Why Do You Breathe I felt as if I knew the sometimes lush, sometimes dusty, feel of Africa that invaded Xander's spirit. For a fic that's all about how the soul tries to heal itself it's beautifully rich with places and sounds that make me feel as if I was sitting on the ground beside Xander and Giles. Silly and sweet, profound and serious in turns, I think it's also one of the great examples of her wonderful style.

sleep while i drive
by mireille719
(Giles/Xander, NC17)

One of the most wonderful things about Mir's fic is that every single chapter makes me smile (this is not to say she can't write darker, bittersweet stuff, because she can), but often there is something so elementary, so pure, so perfect in the way she hits Xander's voice, or the way she arranges the words in Giles' thoughts that it just amazes me. And makes me grin, all unknowing. And this particular fic, started several years ago (and on a little break right now, but still being worked on), is pretty much a smile-guarantee. Xander decides, on a whim he doesn't even explain to himself, to invite Giles on his summer-of-self-discovery road-trip - and with Giles' help he manages to get past Oxnard. Each chapter is a perfect little present, even when it's Xander taking issue with Giles not treating him like an adult, or Giles thinking Xander's going to get tired of him, or any of the other stuff. Mir doesn't shy away from difficulties, but instead she lingers on them just as much as she lingers on the scortching hot idea of these two together - and in some ways it makes the entire fic happier to have something to balance it against. When I reread this for the umpteenth time to pick out some of my favorite quotes for these graphics, I had the entire page covered with page long quotes. I think that's part of what attracts me to Mir's writing style - her brilliance is in the way all the pieces fit together, in the way she comes up with entire paragraphs that cannot be understood in their fantastic power until you've read the last sentence of the chapter. But don't take my word for it... go read yourself!

behind closed doors
by janedavitt
(Giles/Spike, NC17)

Jandavitt's fic don't always make me laugh - but I read her work for an entirely different reason - they draw me in, they wrap me up, and they make me forget that I ever doubted whatever pairing it is that she's writing. Her work was the way I first got exposed to Giles/Xander, and I think Behind Closed Doors defines the Giles/Spike genre for me so deeply that it's almost hard to read fic from another perspective. The fic starts in the summer after Season 5, when both Giles and Spike are grieving Buffy's loss - and on one dark night they make a deal. Not only is it toe-curlingly hot, it is somehow one of the sweetest romances for two people who, as Jane writes them, have not a romantic bone in their bodies. But they do find each other. And while Janedavitt isn't actively writing the Buffy fandom any longer (but still writes! in other fandoms!) I still think she's left us this wonderful legacy of an incredibly strong, dominant, beautiful Giles, and the fantastically stunning, proud, shining Spike.

good guy, bad guy: a spike/xander adventure
by cordelianne and reremouse
(Spike/Xander, NC17)

Blame Cordelianne and Reremouse! It's their fault. Their fault entirely for writing such an amazing, wonderful, goofy, sexy, and just plain crazy-pants story. I couldn't help myself. When they gave us so much delight in every chapter it seemed like the whole fic was bursting at the seams... well, it inspired the equally crazy-pants wallpapers under the cut. And the perfect lines in each chapter? I couldn't incorporate every perfect line (WAY TOO MANY). But I couldn't resist at least one minty-fresh gem from each chapter, so I've made 18 text only icons stealing the best lines (and I truly hope both of you will forgive me for stealing without asking before hand?). You will all find two different versions of the wallpaper - one with images representing one of the goofy, giggly, sigh-inspiring or toe tingling moments from each of the chapters... and one with words.