Best Characterization Fics:

[lusciousxander.livejournal.com]

Fics with Outstanding Characterization: (IMHO)

1- Cuckoo in the Nest by liz_marcs

Wow, this fic takes us inside the head of Xander's father: Tony Harris. We get to see Xander's life and the events of canon through the eyes of his father. New idea of a fic, amazing characterization, amazing plotting. I especially liked how she made Tony look like a person and not like how many portray him as Mr. Evil Rapist.

2- Confluents by enigmaticblues

This is one of my favorite season 7 Spuffy fics. All the characters sound in character, the plotline was interesting, the Scoobies' relationships were interesting! We have Buffy dealing with her flaws, I love that it didn't take an "over the top" style to have her discover her weaknesses and flaws. Amazing portrayal of Xander, flawed but still the good man we see on the show. A nice Willow trying hard not to screw up. The grown up Dawn we saw in S7. Anya didn't appear much but she's sarcastic and still blaming Xander for her own choices. As for Spike... well, why don't you read and find out. *winks*

3- Sweet Revenge by jackson_rayne

A rewrite of season 5 but Spander style. Spike is the character that attracts me the most in this fanfic, usually fanficcers try their hardest to show us how Spike is worthy and deserves to be treated better, sometimes exaggerating to the point of showing him as a saint, even with his apparent flaws. Here though Jackson gives us the real Spike, the Spike who goes through major developments to improve with time for the person he loves without losing what makes him a vampire. I guess the fact that she's using S5 to write her fic helped her to keep Spike in check. Her Spike will always be my favorite Spike.

4- London Calling by shadowscast

If Saint!Spike annoys me in fanfic, then Marty Stu!Xander annoys me even more. Shadowscast writes a wonderful, believable Xander and you can just see it in the first scene of the fic where Xander and Buffy argue over Spike's AR. Some writers go very mellow with Xander sometimes while others make him go over the top with his Spike hate, but her Xander has a mix of each, he hates Spike but will do whatever he can to make Buffy happy. Of course, other than her Xander characterization, her plot is very intriguing and pulls you in. One of the best Spander fanfic.

5- Starting from Nowhere by st_salieri

I'd die for a fic that lacks Riley bashing, so thank you st_salieri! I'm not into Xander/Riley but you can really believe that Xander has it for Riley, plus this is the only fic to convince me that Riley can, well, be gay with a guy. :)

Comments

[menomegirl.livejournal.com]

There's no Riley bashing in Starting From Nowhere? I'll have to read that one.

Thank you!

[lusciousxander.livejournal.com]

You're welcome. :) Do you know more fics with no Riley bashing? I'd love to read them, even if Riley isn't the focus.

[menomegirl.livejournal.com]

There are a lot of non-bashing Riley fics here. Biblioteque (http://www.obsessedmuch.net/biblioteque/fandom.php#balar) There are many other pairings there and they're all wonderful.

List of Riley fics:

Bitter Nectar
Domestic Scene 10-A (Riley/Xander)
Escalade (Riley/Darla)
Just The Heat
Gone Missing (Riley/Graham, drabble)
Nothing is Lost Save Honor (Riley,other)
Reconnaissance (Riley/Graham)

And two series:
Filler (http://www.obsessedmuch.net/biblioteque/filler.php) (Xander/Riley))
Fulfillment (http://www.obsessedmuch.net/biblioteque/fulfillment.php) (Xander/Riley)
Palimpsest (http://www.obsessedmuch.net/biblioteque/palimpset.php) (Xander/Riley)
Shadowed (Xander/Riley)
Wrong Things - Filling In The Gaps IV (Xander/Riley)

I love this series and just live in hope for more:
Rainmakers
Rainmakers II: Southwest of Nowhere
Rainmakers Interlude: Silence Like Water
Rainmakers III: Spindrift
Rainmakers IV: Still Life With House

[lusciousxander.livejournal.com]

Ooooh thank you!! :)

[yourlibrarian]

Escalade (Riley/Darla)

Wow, just that pairing sounds like a fascinating premise!

[menomegirl.livejournal.com]

It's a PWP and quite chilling. Character-wise, it's pretty damn good, I thought.

[girlpire.livejournal.com]

oh, oh, i wrote one! me me me! :D

riley is one of my favorite characters, and i really think he's been slighted by fandom. where's all the riley love? i'm so excited about the riley fics linked on this page... and here's one more:

Truce - NC17 (http://girlpire.livejournal.com/86842.html)

it's a shortish riley/angel pwp.

[jans-intentions.livejournal.com]

I loved that story by st_salieri, so I agree it's a great one. Also read the one by Enigmaticblues. Great and diverse recs.

[lusciousxander.livejournal.com]

Thanks, hon, these two are very good recs :)

[yourlibrarian]

Hee, you've got a couple of my future recs too :> Great list, and it's nice to see another of the Riley fics as well.

Just one request, can you please cut-tag this after Rec #1? Thanks!

[lusciousxander.livejournal.com]

Hee, you've got a couple of my future recs too :>

Oops *blush* *g*

I'd like to see more Riley recs in the future :)

Just one request, can you please cut-tag this after Rec #1? Thanks!

Okay. ^_^

[yourlibrarian]

Oops *blush*
Hee, just means I'm probably going to really enjoy the other two!

[lusciousxander.livejournal.com]

Can I do more lists with vids, icons and other types of fics tonight or should I make them tomorrow? :)

[yourlibrarian]

It's up to you -- we'll be open through Tuesday so if you want to post a few each day that would be great!

[beanbeans.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for that rec for London Calling--I'd never read it before and it's brilliant. Fantastic choices. :)

[lusciousxander.livejournal.com]

You're welcome, sweetie. It is a brilliant fic indeed. :)

[yourlibrarian]

BTW, I just realized that her lj name is off by an "s", it's actually shadowscast

[lusciousxander.livejournal.com]

Eek! I'll correct that, thank you so much! :)

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

Awwww! Thanks for the rec! :-)

[lusciousxander.livejournal.com]

You're welcome. Your fic deserves even more than being #1 :)