Top five 2008 Xander/Giles

[reremouse.livejournal.com]

Five very worthy Xander/Giles stories. My criteria include believable character motivation, a pleasing twist to the narrative and in-character voices.

Item Title or Description: Fifth Portent Of The Apocalypse Of Bees
Creator’s Name: nwhepcat
Rating: Mature
Why: Whenever nwhepcat writes slash, it's a special treat and her Xander/Giles is no exception - it's atmospheric and quiet and completely in character. Xander is recovering from a long illness. And Giles makes a joke.



Item Title or Description: Hands Down Part One, Part Two
Creator’s Name: drsquidlove
Rating: Adult
Why: drsquidlove gives great Giles. drsquidlove also gives great Xander. When Giles loses the use of his hands and Xander has to step in, it only gets better. Fantastic dialog with the mix of silly and serious that made me love the show so much.

Item Title or Description: Same Time Next Week
Creator’s Name: cordelianne
Rating: Teen
Why: Into the summer after Buffy's death, Xander brings uncertainty. And a casserole. There's also some poignant Giles POV for a post-Buffy summer in which Giles handles the loss without turning to the bottle. His memories of Buffy made me smile. cordelianne takes her time with this quiet and slow-growing Xander/Giles.

Item Title or Description: You Can Be A Winner At The Game Of Life
Creator’s Name: savoytruffle
Rating: Mature
Why: It's no secret how much I enjoy savoytruffle's writing. She's another of those writers who captures why I liked Buffy The Vampire Slayer so much and this story is no exception. The miracle of unemployment. A really bad gist. And Giles is out of synch. Except when he's not. savoytruffle doesn't make it easy and she doesn't make it obvious and that makes it so much better. Just strap in for the ride.

Item Title or Description: Utah And Everything After
Creator’s Name: mireille719
Rating: Teen
Why: mireille719 is the writer responsible for sucking me into the Xander/Giles love and the love keeps on giving. I have a big thing for well-written post-Chosen Xander/Giles. Also for well-written cats. Mir gives us both and I'm so glad she did. This is another story where the path of true love really really doesn't run smooth. And the story is so much better for it.

Comments

[brunettepet.livejournal.com]

What a wonderful list. Each of these stories is a jewel.

[reremouse.livejournal.com]

2008 was a great year for the Xander/Giles.

[yourlibrarian]

It's interesting how Xander/Giles is a pairing that's really been growing in popularity for writers. Am I remembering right that there's an annual ficathon for them?

[reremouse.livejournal.com]

There is. It's the Xander/Giles Octoberfest at gilesxander. But most of these were written for the annual Summer of Giles ficathon. I cheer on the growth of Xander/Giles but I not so secretly harbor a desire for Spander to gain some high quality new writers in 2009. miriam_heddy was an unexpected thrill in that department for 2008.

[yourlibrarian]

I thought so, I think I remember seeing some fics from it in last year's recs. And yeah, I have one of MH's fics in my list too.