Five Oldskool Spike/Buffy Romps

[quinara]

These are five fics I associate with the time before I got my LJ in 2003, when the world of Spuffy fanfic was a very different place (or so it seems to me now). They've stuck with me to such an extent that it seems odd people haven't read them and they've probably influenced me more than I realise.

Black the Sun by Sangga

Black the Sun is the ur-rescue!fic in my head. Spike gets kidnapped by an ancient Egyptian priestess for ritual purposes and the gang have to go and rescue him. Buffy starts off not caring very much, but by the end... There isn't much more to it than that, but a mass of twists and turns along the way really make this fic. It's set in that nebulous time of S5-but-Glory's-not-really-an-issue, as things used to be before every episode made a crucial difference to the Spike-Buffy dynamic. A great action/adventure fic.

Definition of a Monster by GG Noel

If Black the Sun is my ur-rescue!fic, Definition of a Monster is my ur-time-travel-fic-post-1880-pre-series (all right, so that's a less catchy genre). Basically, it's a time-travel fic with just evil Spike and the fanged four, rather than William or younger Buffy, and it happens to be in World War II, with Nazi Slayers and Willow's grandparents. There's this bit with Spike and retro!Spike in Russia where they chat about Tolstoy, which is much more an action scene than deep angst, but it's completely wedged in my consciousness and probably will stay there forever. (GG Noel's other fic, Blood of the Heart has stuck with me in much the same way - it's a great resurrection tale with some magnificently hyperbolic descriptions of Buffy and Spike's fighting prowess.)

Dry Kind of Love by Tanith

The combination of this fic's title and its summary (You can run, but you can't hide. S/B Futurefic.) has haunted me ever since it appeared on ff.net. I still don't know why. The fic is much the same, ostensibly a story about future!Buffy and future!Spike's daughter coming to terms with her parents' past and her own nature, after Darla and Drusilla take it upon themselves to terrorise her, but weirdly much more haunting than the premise would make it seem. Offspring!fic isn't exactly my cup of tea, but this is completely its own animal, at least in my head.

The Island of Galleno by Isabelle

Isabelle still gets recced around quite a lot, but for some reason I never see people talking about this fic, which I remember because I read it almost in one go and it felt so long. Relatively speaking it isn't, really, but I got so immersed in it when I read it that coming out the other side was a very odd experience. The premise is that, just when Buffy and Spike actually get somewhere, Riley (in his fanon incarnation of some sort of bizarre deus ex machina) appears and steals Spike away to an Initiative camp, from where Spike spends literally years trying to get out and back to Buffy - only not really because his motives go through all these shifts and changes as the time passes. I think they have a son or something as well(?).

Spiegel im Spiegel by Fallowdoe

Frankly, I couldn't write this list without Fallowdoe's fic, in which The Gift has gone squiffy, Dawn has ended up as energy in this post-apocalyptic/fantasy-novel world and Spike and Buffy (and everybody else) are trying to make a go of it very much separated. Like all the fics on this list, I haven't actually read through Spiegel im Spiegel in a while, but it's always there in the back of my mind for the sheer power of the descriptions and imagery. It's an amazing fic. The sequel and the (permanent?) WIP of the third instalment are equally brilliant, but I don't know a link for them that isn't at Tea at the Ford, which is currently down.

Comments

[empresspatti.livejournal.com]

Thanks for these - Spuffy is about the only fanfiction I read and I haven't ever read any of these.

[quinara]

You're welcome - I hope you enjoy them if you read! There's so much stuff that's fallen by the wayside over the years and never gets brought up for some reason.

[aycheb.livejournal.com]

Oh Lord, I remember the Tanith fic. It was kinda cool. Did it ever get finished?

[quinara]

Did it ever get finished?

Yep! There was a sequel that I think stalled a few chapters in, but the fic on it's own came to a very decent close.

[slaymesoftly.livejournal.com]

Recognized the first one as one I read many years ago, and I think I know the last one, too, although I'm terrible about titles so I may be confusing it with something else. I suspect not, though. It was an unusual concept and very well done.

[quinara]

*nods* I have so much love for Fallowdoe's fic.

[yourlibrarian]

These are five fics I associate with the time before I got my LJ in 2003

One of the things I enjoy about Classic Recs is that it gives people a reason to go dig out fics they haven't read in ages, and realize they still love.

[quinara]

The weirdest thing was digging around The Way Back Machine (to find the titles and authors so I could find the links!) and actually getting back into the mood that I was in when I found the fics for the first time - it's so different clicking through names of people you don't know at all, rather than looking at people's LJs. Oddly quieter.

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

Ooh, those are some oldies but goodies.

[quinara]

We wouldn't be Buffy fandom without resurrection!

[snickfic]

I've never read any of these! Ohmygoodness! *drools* The classic recs session is really reminding me what a n00b I am in Buffy fandom...

[jen-nsync-landl.livejournal.com]

LOL I had the exact same reaction. ;) I guess we'd better get to reading - we are behind!

[quinara]

:D Have fun! Now at least when people go on about the olden days you'll have some sort of reference! Maybe I should track down some stuff from the 2003/4/5 period too...

[jen-nsync-landl.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the recs, dear! :)

[quinara]

You're very welcome!

[rahirah]

Oh, I remember those! (Though I never read the Isabelle; I could never get into her stuff.)

[quinara]

Yay! (Isabelle was never one of my favourite authors, to be honest, and reading the first chapter of this again I both winced and went 'huh?' at a couple of moments; but for some reason the experience of reading it has really stayed with me.)

[rahirah]

See, that was what happened to me the first time I tried to read it. *g* (And then she was one of that group of Spuffy writers who, when Spike moved to AtS, declared anyone who started writing Spike/Fred or Spike/Angel traitors to the Spuffy cause, or some nonsense like that. 0_o)

[quinara]

when Spike moved to AtS, declared anyone who started writing Spike/Fred or Spike/Angel traitors to the Spuffy cause

But they were!! Defectors.

Oh, right, you mean seriously... o.O

[rahirah]

Dude. She wrote this long, bitter, name-calling screed about it. It was weird.

[shapinglight]

You know, I haven't read any of these. I've only even heard of the last one. Just goes to show there's still so much out there.

Thanks for the links.

[quinara]

Ze world of fanfic is scarily huge.

You're welcome!

[moscow-watcher.livejournal.com]

Oh, looks like I have a lot to catch. I remember trying to read some Isabelle's fics only to decide they're not my cup of tea. I never heard about the rest.

Thank you!

[quinara]

You're welcome! They're more about the impact they had on me rather than relative 'goodness', because I think people tend to have some idea about the massively popular fics from that time. Still, I hope you enjoy any of them that you read!

[cordykitten]

A lot of the real old fics I never read (but I saw them so I remember the title Black the sun and The Island of Galleno) so thanks even more for the recs. *added to mem*

[quinara]

You're welcome! I hope you enjoy them. :)

[riccadonna.livejournal.com]

Two of them I'd never heard of before, thanks! New stories from old times...

[quinara]

You're welcome! I love finding new stories. :)