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What is the sublime archive, you ask? It's a place that I'll host B/A stories that I find particularly beautiful, or awe-inspiring (which is the Oxford English Dictionary's definition of sublime). These are purely subjective selections here, folks...and I make no apologies for that. I'll add them as I find them. Have you read a phenomonal B/A story? Tell me about it.
a2zmom
- Dance
- G
- Why it's sublime? This is just a sweet, brimming with promise story...and who doesn't like those?
Arrie
- How Should I Presume?
- PG
- Why it's sublime? This story is told from Angel's POV. He reflects, from Los Angeles, on his complicated history with Buffy and his own failings. Plus, Arrie wrote it for me.
Blackwinged Angel
- The Best Nights
- NC-17
- Why it's sublime?This is a little gem of a story; a quiet reflection of what has been and what may never be. Buffy has never been more sympathetic.
Copper
- Names
- G
- Why it's sublime? A rose by any other name...Copper's fic is short, but it manages to capture in very few words everything we know to be true about our favourite couple.
Vatrixsta Cruden
- Paved
- PG
- Why it's sublime?A post-"Chosen", post-"Home" that is messy and honest and everything that a good fic should be. Plus...that ending!
Dark Star
- Love Lies Bleeding
- NC-17
- Why it's sublime? First of all, our heroes are damaged and hurting and needy and vulnerable and they inhabit a landscape that is unfamiliar and filled with menace. What's not to like?
Jane Davitt
- Lead Me Into Temptation
- G
- Why it's sublime? I think it's always wonderful when a great writer attempts a relatively shippy story that features a pairing they don't necessarily ship. "Lead Me Into Temptation" is a wonderful pre-"Surprise" story that hints at all the angst to come.
- Stepping Out
- PG
- Why it's sublime? Well, this little ficlet captures everything beautiful about early B/A. Set in the Bronze it features Willow and Xander at their goofy best, and a budding Buffy and Angel relationship that is especially bittersweet because we know what is to come.
Ducka and Vatrixsta Cruden
- Bleed
- NC-17
- Why it's sublime? Every B/A archive worth it's weight needs to have one Ducks/Vatrixsta collaboration and this just happens to be my favourite. It's the quintessential happily-ever-after Buffy and Angel fic that doesn't gloss over their troubled past and is filled with the beautiful writing and sex we've come to expect from these writers.
Trixie Firecracker
- Amen
- R
- Why it's sublime? What can I say? I like my B/A complicated, messy and hot. Trixie hits every nerve with percision and I adore her for it. This story remains one of my favourites. Be warned, though, B/S and C/A have a part to play in this B/A story.
- The Life Before Her Eyes
- R
- Why it's sublime? As always, Trixie's prose is evocative and sensual. This story, a backwards glance at Buffy's life, is beautifully understated and mangages to touch on many of the pivotal moments which shaped her. It is clear that Trixie loves Buffy and your heart will break a little reading this story.
Glossolalia
- Small Illuminated Dying Things
- NC-17
- B/A/Oz
- Why it's sublime? Gloss writes a lot of Oz/Angel, but before you go shaking your head at how impossible that sounds, you should read this story. First of all, Angel/Oz makes sense. Secondly, Angel/Buffy, as we see them here, are as important to each other as they ever were. Gloss takes these characters to a new, devastating place, though. Her writing, as always, is brilliant.
- Dear to Us
- PG
- Why it's sublime? Odd that I would fall so in love with a story that doesn't have my couple sailing off into a sunset. Odder that the marvelously talented Glossolalia would write B/A at all, but she did. And she wrote it beautifully and, while it's not happily ever after, it's still a could-be story that just could. be.
Green
- Songs of Parting
- R
- Why it's sublime? This story is a brief post-apocalypse story and it's filled with sadness, remorse and hopelessness. I loved it!
Kita
- Echoes
- R
- Why it's sublime? One word: Kita. I still remember the first time I read this story and the feeling I had that I had crossed over into another category of fanfic. Kita's Angel is compliacted and uncompromising and utterly beautiful and while she's not strictly a B/A writer or shipper, Kita writes some of the most beautiful B/A out there. Echoes remains one of my favourite stories in the fandom.
Ligeia
- Save Me
- PG
- Why it's sublime? Ligeia's story perfectly captures Season One Buffy/Angel. Angel is filled with longing and remorse and the story itself is exquisite.
Lokoa
- Here, at the End of the World
- PG
- Why it's sublime? The depth of Lokoa's love for our star-crossed couple knows no bounds and it shows in this simple tale of reconciliation and hope. Post "Chosen."
Sofia Neto
- Playing By the Rules
- R
- B/A/S
- Why it's sublime? It's a crafty writer, indeed, who can make me share my B/A love with Spike, but Sofia is one of those writers who does this threesome beautifully. Her characters are driven by blood and by family and by a bond that they share, and I believe that this kind of story deserves a place in the Sublime archive.
Regala Electra
- Pieces of Now
- PG
- Why it's sublime? Older and far away. That's the Buffy and Angel of this story, one of the finest post-Chosen fics I've come across. Is it happily-ever-after? Uh, no. But it's gorgeous nonetheless.
She's A Star
- Beauty Crucified
- PG
- Why it's sublime? This little ficlet is a gem; it's a gauzy, veiled story that barely touches the corners of the complicated B/A relationship. And the corners it does touch are slightly spooky and filled with unanswered questions.
Sienna
- Love and Bruises
- NC-17
- Why it's sublime? Sienna writes B/A angst like nobody's business. And this little gem examines a season 5 relationship that's about need and loss and desire and despair. And it's not happy, but it's beautiful.
Starlet
- Amor Fati
- PG
- Why it's sublime? I think Starlet sees the characters the way they are rather than the way she wants them to be. That's the greatest compliment I can pay to someone whom I admire beyond the telling of it. So her Angel is spot on, complicated and yearning. She's true to the B/A myth, and while her heart may belong solely in the C/A camp, she never tramples on B/A. This story, which I am happy to include in the Sublime Archive, is B/A, but Queen C, the character we all love, makes an appearance. And she's lovely.
Yseult
- Cemeteries R Us
- PG
- Why it's sublime? Despite the fact that Angel only makes a nominal appearance in this story, it's still heavenly B/A. And Yseult hits the Buffy/Spike relationship out of the park with spot-on characterizations. I love this little fic.