Top 5 Fics in Pairings Not My Usual, but Darned if They Don't Make Me Forget It:

[amybnnyc.livejournal.com]

And another fic-related Top 5:

Top 5 Fics in Pairings Not My Usual, but Darned if They Don't Make Me Forget It:

1. Story:               Lies We Tell Ourselves

            Authors:           ely_jan and sweptawaybayou

   Pairing:             David Boreanaz/Christian Kane (RPS)

   Rating:             NC-17

   Why:                Oh God.  That’s pretty much how every single comment I’ve written in reply to the installments of the series has begun, and every new piece blows me away with insight, with heat, with tension, with angst, with love and anger and hurt and hope and despair and a thousand other emotions that you wind up feeling with every breath you take.  Gorgeous, intense, and beautifully told, with ely_jan giving us Christian’s perspective and sweptawaybayou giving us David’s.  I can’t get enough of this.

2. Story:               You Made Me Forget Myself (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)

   Author:            lillianmorgan

   Pairing:            Spike/Angel

   Rating:             NC-17 overall

   Why:                And again with the Oh God.  A beautiful, beautiful exploration of Angel and Spike, both as individuals and as an eventual couple, post-NFA.  When the Shanshu isn’t everything Angel dreamed it would be, and life’s a little more aimless for Spike than he knows what to do with, the support that they offer the other is crucial.  And beautifully handled, nuanced, and full of both snark and heart.

3. Story:               Useless Desires

   Author:             engimaticblues

   Pairing:            Spike/Tara

   Rating:             R

   Why:                Every pairing enigmaticblues touches turns to gold, in my eyes, including pairings that I had never before sought out.  Set in an AU in which Spike didn’t return to Sunnydale immediately after the soul—and only does return, with a friend in tow, to say good-bye at Buffy’s grave—the story juggles the weight of the past, the hope of the future, and the pain and joy of the day-to-day.  It’s a lovely look at second chances, moving on, and finding out you can sometimes go home again—even if it’s never felt like home before.

4. Story:               Coming Ashore (Part 1, Part 2)

   Author:            lillianmorgan

   Pairing:            Spike/Xander

   Rating:             R

   Why:                And more with the finding home, even when you didn’t really know it was home.  A wonderful, older, wiser, battle-scarred Xander; an equally battle-scarred Spike; a flash to a past that we never saw but which feels as though we just might’ve; and a future that’s as up to the reader as it is to Spike and Xander.

5. Story:               Tales of Giles and Anya

   Author:             talesofspike

   Pairing:             Giles/Anya

   Rating:              R

   Why:                 I never much thought about a Giles/Anya ‘ship until talesofspike wrote the first installment of this series as a birthday gift for a friend, but after that, I was well and truly hooked.  Branching off from the wedding-that-wasn’t and giving Anya a friend and a choice that doesn’t cost her her humanity, Tales has created here a lovely relationship, full of heart and friendship, mutual respect and growing love.  Each new installment is a wonderful treat.

ETA:

Apologies for the wonky formatting--apparently Word and the Rich Text editing window don't like each other much.

Comments

[yourlibrarian]

I know someone's going to be blushing furiously at this list but I agree with your take on those stories. I like the sound of that Giles/Anya, which I've seen several times in stories focused on other ships but never read as the main focus. Sounds like something nice to come back to.

[amybnnyc.livejournal.com]

Hee... let her blush, because she deserves every ounce of the recognition/praise and more. Both of those stories were just incredible.

And the Giles/Anya is wonderful--most of the ficlets are written as birthday presents, so the updates are usually tied to her flist's b-day celebrations, but there have been quite a few of those and the series is well and truly underway now. It really is a beautiful set of work. :)

[semby.livejournal.com]

Ooh, neat list. I've only read a couple, but the rest look good too. And I love the title of the post! :D

[amybnnyc.livejournal.com]

Hee! Your icon! *g* And thanks so much--glad you enjoyed the list, and the title, and that there was some new stuff on here for you! :)

[lillianmorgan.livejournal.com]

Um, yeah. That would be me blushing. Thank you very much!
I've definitely heard of the first one, it's been mentioned a lot around my f-list so I should put it to the top of the pile. And you make the other two sound so great as well that I might just have to place them there too.
Thanks so much for sharing :)

[amybnnyc.livejournal.com]

Hee! Quit the blushing, because it's *so* very deserved. I'm sending people who aren't even *on* LJ to go read them, because I can't bear that my fanfic-loving non-LJ friends should be deprived. (Basically, I'm pimping you all about the greater NYC area.)

Lies We Tell Ourselves... gah. I just can't praise it highly enough. Top of the pile, definitely--it really is can't-miss. And the other two are can't-miss as well, I think--beautiful examples of understated but deeply emotionally resonant storytelling. :)

[ely-jan.livejournal.com]

*tacklehugs* No words for this blushing, grinning, squeeing thing I'm doing right about now. No words.

Thanks, darlin - so much. I'm gobsmacked. Thrilled to pieces and I'm so glad you enjoyed Lies and hope we can live up to this!

*bookmarks rest of links*

And YAY!! I love recs!

[amybnnyc.livejournal.com]

*dances you around* So, so happy to rec this to the skies, sweetie--I actually spent part of Sunday squeeing and proselytizing about Lies, and have sent the link to a fandom friend who's not even on LJ to get her over to read it, so darn straight I'm going to rec it here! *g* It's an incredible piece of work, and you all deserve insane amounts of attention and squee for it!

*hugs*

[pfeifferpack.livejournal.com]

Excellent list. Another two I'd add are:

Long An Winding Road: Spike/Tara by ezagaaikwe Post NFA time travel piece wherein Willow asks Spike to take a quick trip back to the moment when Warren's bullet forever destroyed Willow's happiness. Spike agrees but "past" Willow only sees the vampire lunging at her lover and uses magic of her own that throws the pair back to the 1800's! Totally believable WIP very far along so lots to read. Every chapter a gem!

Ten Years After: Spike/Dawn by curiouswombat Yes, it's ten years after NFA. Buffy has her normal life and meant it that the vampires who love her should move on. Dawn discovers she is still "the Key" in some respects and faces an eternal, unaging life. Who does she know that might understand and help her to cope? Who might discover love can change in type as we age? Lovely and believable. This one is complete but there may be a sequel if we are lucky!

[pfeifferpack.livejournal.com]

Oops...links!

Long and Winding Road:
http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=spiketara&keyword=The+Long+And+Winding+Road&filter=all

Ten Years After:
http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=curiouswombat&keyword=Ten+Years+After&filter=all

Kathleen