Five Epics of Epicness (Spuffy Edition)

[rebcake.livejournal.com]

These might be obvious choices, but the classics are classic for a reason, and the first couple of these aren't even that old! And c'mon! I know some of you have skipped a couple of these. I did too, once upon a time.

West of the Moon, East of the Sun by knifeedgefic (NC17, Ensemble) Over 400,000 words, complete.
On LJ / On BSV / On SR / On EF (members only) / On FF.net
Strap in for an entirely alternate S5 from the POV of the characters. It features dreamscape rendevous, silencing spells, dimension hopping, tall towers, and very bad weather, among other things.

Clocks of the Long Now by lostboy_lj (R, Ensemble) 200,000 words, complete.
On LJ / On DW / On SR / On EF (members only)
Four years after the gang helped Sunnydale perform its swan dive into Hell, Buffy's in Rome, Riley's in the Army, Kennedy's in Vlad's castle, Dawn's in a bunker, Giles is in deep cover, Spike's wearing something very odd indeed, and nobody really knows where Willow is. It might be up to Xander and Andrew to save the day. A fascinating look at good and evil from every perspective.

The Barbverse by BarbC rahirah (NC17 in places, Ensemble) Approaching 1 million words, some bits in the middle still in progress.
On AO3 / On Author's Site
Spans 50 years and explores the question of whether or not one Buffy Anne Summers, vampire slayer extraordinaire, and one William the Bloody, vampire of infinite heart and limited ethics, can reach a certain degree of mutual accommodation after diverse discourses and considerable ass-kicking.

Bittersweets by herself_nyc_fic (NC17, Ensemble) 400,000 words, complete.
On EF (members only) / On AAS / On Author's Site
After the events of "Wrecked", Spike urges Buffy to find out exactly why the chip no longer sees her as human. The discovery leads to a centuries long adventure, complete with time travel, dimension hopping, and even a trip in outer space.

Lost in Time by spikeskat (NC17, with mostly OC Ensemble) 65+ chapters, complete.
Only available via Wayback Machine, here: https://web.archive.org/web/20120228151315/http://spikeskat.rogue-poet.com/lostintime.htm
Ethan's S2 "Halloween" spell goes awry, and Buffy is sent back in time with Spike(!?!) as her bodyguard, courtesy of the Powers that Be. He's not a very nice vampire, either. At least, not until Buffy works a little magic of her own.

Comments

[yourlibrarian]

Interesting to see all the scattered places where these reside (and thank heavens for still being able to locate old fics!)

[rebcake.livejournal.com]

Not for long, in the case of "Lost in Time". It disappeared from everything except the Wayback this year, and it's one that is often requested/sought. That's one reason I wanted to make this post...have all these links in one place. ;-)

[missus-grace.livejournal.com]

Didn't realize it was disappearing! Spikeskat is one of my all-time favorite writers :(

[rebcake.livejournal.com]

True! I don't know why her site isn't there, and why her LJ isn't — or one of her LJs anyway. I really hope that she'll give permission for the story to be posted elsewhere. Elysian Fields is trying to get the classics up before they fade away, and AO3 would be a great place, too! If you hear from her, let her know that there are people willing to help with archiving!

[yourlibrarian]

I wish more of these older works were available through AO3 -- especially really long fics. I prefer long stories and a high word count is a plus, but after being at the computer all day reading anything longer than ficlets on LJ has become painful.

[rebcake.livejournal.com]

Agreed. The mod over at Elysian Fields is trying to get the classic Spuffy stuff up over there, but it's hard going to reach some of the classic writers. But when she can get them, the stories are ePub downloadable. Victory!

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

So I'm looking at the lengths and thinking maybe I'll give them a pass but then I - insane idiot that I am - click on the first one, which is really well written and intresting, so now I have to read it and look at the others as well because they are probably awesome also, which means I have five, five!, really long stories to read on top of NaNoWriMo. You hate me, don't you. Why do you hate me? What have I ever done to make you hate me? ;-)

By which I mean to say, the ones I've clicked through look very good. Thank you for sharing them.

[rebcake.livejournal.com]

My only defense is that they'll probably still be there in December, after NaNo! But...point taken. I sort of hate myself, too. (Hee. Devil on my shoulder says, "Not really.")

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

And I had actually planned to wait until after November to read most of the BtVS Top 5 recs, but I have absolutely no willpower! ;-)

[rebcake.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean!

[lostboy-lj.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for the rec, rebcake. :) I loved writing that tale, and to hear a friend of mine call it a classic is incredibly gratifying.

(One small thing; although I'm usually pretty unclear about what such ratings mean, I rate the story an "R" not an "NC-17". That's just according to the movie that ran in my head, but I might be more forgiving than the MPAA.)

[rebcake.livejournal.com]

My pleasure! I would definitely rate this story at around PG13 to R, but I got the Elysian Fields members-only message, which made me think it was rated higher. I will change it now! (I say PG13, because I find "language" a ridiculous reason for upping a rating, but it does have Spike in it, so there you go!)