I'm changing the format of the Good Words page. Come here for story recs. These are stories I think are fabulous. I haven't abandoned my fave authors, though. I've just moved them.
I'm changing the format of the Good Words page. Come here for story recs. These are stories I think are fabulous. I haven't abandoned my fave authors, though. I've just moved them.
Recs for February 2008
Thine Is, Life Is By SeraC/seraphcelene NC-17 Dawn/Buffy A bleak post-apocalypyic world- beautifully (and horribly) rendered.
Release By starlet2367 PG No pairings, but definitley C/A positive; Cordelia gets a vision on Halloween.
Rule of Three By tesla321 R-ish Buffy/Spike/Angel A lyrical examination of of the B/A/S relationship,rather than a plot driven story.
Aftermath By adjovi R Angel/Spike An interesting post-NFA fic writeen in the second person.
In the Darkness, Bind Them By shealynn88 R Willow/Giles Willow and Giles share their magic in this slightly dark, beautifully written fic.
Nearest, Dearest Enemy (Calm Before the Storm) By escritoireazul PG Set in season two, these linked ficlets examine the cracks in several relationships: Jenny/Giles, Dru/Spike, Cordy/Xander and Buffy/Angel
Show Me How It's Done By adarog NC17 Buffy/Giles/Ethan Not a threesome that I would ever believe in, but a hot fic nonetheless.
Haikus of Sleaze By mistletoe54 NC 17 Angel's sexual history told in a series of haikus...naughtier and more eloquent than you could imagine.
Clair de Lune By spikendru NC 17 Oz/Angel Oz looks for a way to manage the wolf and turns to an old friend.
More Immortal Than the Stars By Altyronsmaker NC 17 Spike/Angel After Angel delivers the amulet to Buffy in season 7, he pays a visit to Spike. Beautifully written fic.
Parenthood By Lostakasha PG Connor is so sympathetic in this post NFA fic.
Of All the Wonders That I Yet Have Heard By Girlpire R Darla/Angel What if Darla had lived after giving birth to Connor? This is a terrific and sympathetic Darla-centric fic.
Bed of Bones By having_written PG Buffy hunts for a demon with an unusual killing style...and deals with her own personal crisis. Circa season 2. Gorgeous.
The Little-Known Pleasures of Cross-Referencing By penwiper26 R Giles Beautiful character study.
This is your life, and it's ending one minute at a time. By Viciouswishes NC 17 Gunn/Angel This is a dark and delicious.
Fundamental Forces By carlyinrome R Angel/Tara An unusual pairing - or, at least, not one I've read before- but this fic is striking for several reasons, not the least of which is the beautiful writing.
Magic Man By EntreNous NC 17 Xander/Lindsey There is a darker place for Xander after he leaves Anya at the altar.
Two unnamed ficlets By Stultiloquentia R-NC17 Connor, Spike and Angel in the first and Spike/Buffy with a BIG twist in the second. Snark and sex and terrific writing.
Untitled ficlet By redbrickrose B/A PG The story of Buffy and Angel is in the books. Look it up.
Sisters of Mercy By soundingsea Strong R Dawn/Spike A dark look at this pairing- where Spike is called upon to be more than he is.
A Circle of Currents By LAndrews PG Angel would do anything for his son in this beautifully written fic.
The Last of the Jedi By Ruuger PG Riley A nice glimpse into Riley's character.
Never the Middle of the Night By only_passenger B/A R only_passenger's fabulous fic Prestige was recced last year during my March month of recs and this fic is part of the same verse, the snapshotverse. Never the Middle of the Night has a great Buffy voice and is filled with shadows.
The Last Days of Autumn By cindergal PG Buffy/Spike Cindergal tackles one of my bulletproof kinks with beautiful restults.
A Slate Not So Clean By Eurydice72 PG Wes, Angel Wesley pays a visit to Faith's hospital bed at the end of season 3. Gorgeous Wes characterization.
Bound By Renee PG Buffy/Angel Buffy and Angel don't say a single word to each other in this lovely post NFA fic.
Snapshots of Wesley By darkhavens G Six drabbles inspired by Wesley icons.
Recs for August 2007
Time Lapse by The Deadly Hook PG A lovely, sympathetic and graceful fic. The featured story at Sublime this month.
Little Deaths: Family and Incest in the Jossverse by Kita NV-17 Kita takes chances, bends slippery words to her considerable will, and doesn't hold back- pushing boundaries and characters into often uncomfortable places
Camera Obscura by Lostakasha R This story is a sort-of sequel to Lostakasha's brilliant fic, Pentimento. Camera Obscura is a beautifully written Angel/Oz fic - full of sensuous detail and sharp, inventive prose and is a reminder of why we write these characters
Recs for April 2007
Familiar by romanyg NC 17 If you have not yet discovered the pleasures of Romany’s Spike/Angel- this is a great place to start. This ficlet captures everything that’s wonderful about these two- the darkness, the snark and the lust.
A Better Where To Find by Doyle PG Cordelia, circa “You’re Welcome”, has one more good-bye to say in this ficlet which is heartbreakingly Cordy.
Debts by selenak PG This is a season five story featuring Wes and Connor- though not sexually. There are some minor issues with grammar, but overall I think this fic is worth reccing because it’s quite lovely in many other ways.
Kaddish by Trix/Trixie Firecracker PG Trixie has long been one of my favourite writers of B/A, (although she writes other pairings beautifully, too.) I am so happy to have stumbled upon this spare post NFA fic, which I somehow missed when it was first posted.
Insider Information by kcarolj65 NC17 I’ve never read a story like this before. Buffy shares the truth about Spike’s sexual prowess with…fanfiction writers. Adorable.
Enormous Panties and Other Things by viciouswishes NC 17 Cordy is tired of being alone on a Friday night and invites Gunn to go dancing. Great characterizations and hot, angst-less sex. *g*
Late Shift by NWHepcat NC 17 A very dark Xander fic that in less capable hands might have spun wildly out of control. Instead this fic is filled with malice and violence and the teensiest bit of sorrow. (Well, for me anyway.)
Alone at Last by Tania/itsabigrock NC 17 This is an Angelus/Darla fic which is filled with gorgeous detail and the most wonderful sense of foreshadowing. Darla and Angelus play an interesting game of cat and mouse with Holtz and reveal much about the nature of their relationship as they do.
Girl, Invisible by snowpuppies R Faith/Dawn…an interesting look at Dawn as she navigates the minefield of her existence.
Rough Replacements by august/unwinding NC 17 I don’t think I’ve ever read a better Buffy/Giles fic than this. Many of you probably read it when it was first posted back in 2004- but if you haven’t read it, you must. It’s quite stunning. No, never mind ‘quite’ it IS stunning.
Singularity by Yoon Ha Lee/yhlee PG This is a fabulous little Faith/Angel story- although it’s not particularly shippy. What it is, though, is a wonderful glimpse at Fred trying to put the Wolfram and Hart pieces in some kind of order she can understand- in a manner that is totally in character.
Interrogation by Ash C NC17 This is an extremely graphic fic, but I figure every rec list should have at least one. As I told AshC, I don’t believe that Spike and Angel would do these things (to Lindsey) now- but back in the day they would have done this sort of thing with glee. And if you’re willing to suspend disbelief, this is a harrowing ride.
Close Encounters by Sunnyd_lite PG This is a simple B/A fic set in season two circa “Lie To Me.” Interestingly enough, the first voice we hear in Spike’s- but then, he always was a keen observer of people. A great little fic. 1
Street Hassle by Madame Meretrix NC 17 Street Hassle revisits the landscape first visited in Madam Meretrix's fic Pretty Baby, this time focusing on Angel and Spike. Sure, it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea (the characters are human)- but the writing is excellent and the setting is gritty and filled with realistic details.
Fett for Bot by Brandil NC 17 This Warren/Spike fic has some wonderful character moments, not the least of which is Spike using his considerable charms *ahem* to get exactly what he wants, while Andrew watches.
The Same Old Story by Minim Calibre NC 17 If you like your Slayers on top of each other, this Faith/Buffy fic is the story for you. Buffy and Faith manage to stop the verbal sparring just long enough to get busy, um, doing other stuff…
Blood Will Tell by Crazydiamondsue NC 17 This is an adult Spike/Riley fic set around ‘Into the Woods’- it’s really the only time you could set a story like this. Spike exploits Riley’s darkness. In a very good way.
Like An Animal by Samsom NC 17 I figured it was about time I offered up some C/A. Some hotter than hell C/A. Which may not appeal to the B/A shippers out there, but can still be appreciated for the hotness and a dead-set-on-getting-what-he-wants Angel. (My favourite kind!)
Hands On by EntreNous NC17 This is a great Wes/Dawn fic. Yes. Wes/Dawn. Wes proves the true meaning of multi-tasking. EntreNous makes the slightly unbelievable, 100% believable.
Anything of Nothing by Yin NC 17 I know a lot of Buffyverse fans love Spike/Xander and I’ll admit it up front, they don’t do much for me as a couple. This fic, however, is a wonderfully written smutfest that is dark and then, suddenly, filled with light.
A Pivot for the Sun by seraphcelene/SeraC NC 17 If you’ve never read seraphcelene, this is as good a place as any to start. This is a dreamy, slightly dark look at Riley circa ‘Into The Woods’ with some well imagined back story and some Buffy and Spike (and Riley) action.
Dead Things by Kangeiko R A wonderful Connor-centric piece- where your are caught between feeling sorry for and fearing him.
Prestige by Only Passenger NC 17 How this fabulous B/A fic has been overlooked, I do not know….but if you have even the slightest interest in adult B/A fic that is wonderfully written…this is just gah!
Girl Talk by Rahirah/Barb C. R Buffy ruminates over the three major relationships in her life- Angel, Riley and Spike and while Barb is a well-known B/S shipper, she does justice to all the men in Buffy’s life. Great Buffy voice.
The Broken Chain of Being by Up Your Peach/Rubywisp PG Xander grieves (somewhat unexpectedly) for someone from his past. Lovely characterization and story.
untitled Angel/Connor fic by Darlas Mom NC 17 It's not the easiest thing to make Connor/Angel palatable- but this little fic manages quite nicely and has lots of other things (great characterization and writing included) to recommend it.
A Year and A World Away by Resolute PG The story is an excellent Riley-centric fic, . Riley has left Sunnydale and is off in Costa Rica. The story is filled with great details and characterization. I like Riley a lot and I enjoyed stepping off the path with him.
Cave by Enigma731 PG Michelle is a new-to-me writer and I came across this fic last night. She says it's a part of a series, (the second fic, Fall is also worth a look) What I liked about Cave (and Fall, too) was its starkness. The language is stripped down- and so are the characters (Buffy and Angel).
The Heaven That Leads to Hell by Lostakasha NC 17 A wonderful dark fic featuring Dawn and Lindsey that I wouldn't have believed possible and yet works beautiful. And it works beautifully because Annie always writes such wonderful characterizations- a few careful sentences and we know these are the people we know- even when they are doing things we might never believe in. The Heaven That Leads to Hell is believable and chilling.
Brief Encounter by Shaping Light/DeborahMM NC 17 I haven't read all that much Fanged Four fic- but if I thought it was all as good as this, I might give it more of a chance. This fic is filled with wonderful period detail and terrific Darla and Spike characterizations.
Older recs
Clean of You By Mad Poetess R A lovely Wes/Lilah fic.
The Nature of the Beast By Jo R It's a way in the future fic. It's B/Aus, sorta, and it's riveting; sad without melodrama, smart and powerful
Bath and a Story By Glossolalia NC 17 Connor and Angel and yeah, like that. But this fic is just so. good.
Wintering By Trix/Trixie Firecracker R Nobody gives as fabulous a first person Buffy pov as Trix...and this Buffy/Wes story is just filled with melancholy.
The Confessional By tkp/thekorapersonality R Incarcerated Faith is visited by Angel, who in many ways is every bit as much a prisoner as Faith is. The Confessional takes on the big topics: redemption, love, God, faith and does it with Faith's brutally honest voice. Chilling and wonderful. Hopeful, too.
Seduction 101 By flurblewig NC 17 A steamy (and often very funny) Nina/Spike/Angel fic.
You Who Never Arrived By M Phoenix R A lovely Dawn/Riley fic.
Secretary By Jane Davitt, Allegraslade, Bit, Darling Effect NC 17 It's totally all human, AU, full of intriguing plot, well developed characters, emotional punch and some of the best written smut I've ever read, particularly if you are interested in D/s and like to have your bottom smacked. (Ok, or not, still...hot!) I read it in one long (LONG) breathless gulp. Un-put-downable.Wes/Faith
Something Else By romany R If there is such a thing as perfect Angel/Nina- this is it.
Triple Layer Birthday Cake By Nyxie NC 17 A smoking hot Angel/Nina/Faith fic. Pure porn genius.
Fade Together By Chlare NC 17 Wes/Angel generally, but their relationship is most certainly coloured by Buffy. Lovely.