I'm looking for a very specific kind of fanfic, so here's a challenge for you.

I've come across a lot of fics where Spike and Buffy are completely OOC. I'd like to read a fairly long fic in which they're both IC. I don't care about the rating; it can be anywhere from PG-13 to NC-17, and it can be from any genre, whether it be romance, angst or fantasy. Steamy scenes are okay, but I don't want it to be nothing but smut. I'd like something with a plot. And I'd like the stories to be compatible with canon at least up to the end of season 6 or the first half of season 7. And please, no copious amounts of fluff. Some occasional fluff is okay, but I don't want to gag on it. And no love triangles; I hate those.

Pretty much anything that meets the above criteria goes as long as Spike and Buffy end up together and neither of them die (or at least not permanently). I'd also like the fics to be well-written, and while I don't want to get too picky, I'd like the spelling and punctuation and whatnot to be readable. Nothing's worse than struggling through a potentially good fanfic that's a garbled mess.

When you say fits within canon I am assuming you mean doesn't veer off into never never land like Buffy is a vamp or Spike becomes a baby, like that. Because most fics take off from some point in canon and go somewhere else or else there'd be no story. So that is my assumption.

One of my favorites and I think puts Buffy and Spike both in perfect voice and is set post NFA so everything up to then is canon is:

My Life Closed Twice by Anaross

http://www.athenewolfe.com/justrewards/viewstory.php?sid=577

Summary: Post-Not Fade Away. Buffy seeks Spike's remains, but then finds him in the most unusual place. Spike/Other, Spike/Buffy. Anaross says, "Not sure where this is going. But new fic. PWP--- Poetry without plot. Well, no poetry yet." Canon to...Post NFA

It's one of the best written stories out there IMO and I love the poetry lit crit in it.

By "fitting with canon" I mean that no changes have been made by the author to the story before a certain point. Such as "Tara didn't die in season 6" or "Spike got his chip out earlier" or "Buffy and Spike didn't sleep together in season 6" and stuff like that. Basically, no AU stories: I just want the story to remain the same until at least the end of season 6. I'm not fond of the idea of Vampire Buffy or Baby Spike, but that wasn't quite what I meant.

SMac
I just read my life closed twice and unless you have a real hard on for poetry dont bother it is awful....very non spuffy

Have you read West of the Moon, East of the Sun by Knifeedge?
I keep having the strangest dream. Every night it's the same thing: a dark room, a big bed, and a silent vampire that I can feel, but not see. I'd be wigged, except it's just a dream, right? It'll be a cold day in hell before I ever willingly sleep with a vampire again...

No one gets into Spike's head like KE does. She writes both Buffy and Spike true to charector. In my opinion this would've been a better season 5 then the one we got. I know you wanted something later on but this was the only one that came to mind.

Cast Me Not Away by Enigmaticblue
A long series exploring the ramifications of love, loss, and belonging. Spike leaves after "Dead Things," wanting nothing more than to get Buffy out of his head. Wesley's still an independent contractor after the events of "Loyalty." And Buffy's still living in the land of denial.

Rule seven, Guest:

7. Please remember we're not here to critique fics. This is a place for us to come and help each other seek out Spuffy fics. No one is asking your opinions as to whether you liked/disliked a fic, so please keep it to yourselves. Please discuss critiques off-site.

Just because you don't like a fic or it's not something to 'your' taste does not mean that others wouldn't like it, so please try to remember that. Also what you say about a fic could be hurtful and discouraging to that fic's author.

My Life Closed Twice is completely spuffy - unless you mean by 'spuffy' that they fall into each others' arms and do it like rabbits. It's a deep and thoughtful love story and the poetry rocks. If that's not your thing then don't read it. But I stand by it being one of the best BtVS (and spuffy) stories out there.

Thanks OhallieO for pointing out the forum rules. I think sometimes folks forget.

I agree. Well writen and engaging. Anaross does not disappoint

I am going to butcher the spelling of this... Miss Murchison has the Chiracurso series which is wonderful.

Jamesmfan has several longish canon friendly stories with plot and Spuffy. They can be found on fanfictionnet

Personally I like knowing if a fic is going to be non-fluffy, I don't mind some angst but I don't want to be traumaitized by unexpected, dark, angsty, unhappy Spuffiness so when I know that is how a fic is written I don't read it until I'm in the mood to do so. When you review a story there's a "like - dislike" function for heaven's sake. So as long as someone doesn't make personal attacks against an author why can't they express their like or dislike of a fic? As well as their reasons for feeling that way.

I loved that story and it is very Spuffy.

RULES

Like I tell my kids, you don't have to like them but you do have to follow them.

Guest
First off, not liking something is one thing. Saying it's awful is another.

And secondly, this is Pari's site; she sets the rules. That means only she needs to like them. The rest of us can either abide by them or take a walk.

Personally, I'm stayin'.

Um. . . to get this back on track, I'd like to self-pimp. I'm pretty sure my Origins series qualifies as "everyone being in character" and long, filled with just the right amount of fluff and angst, but I could be wrong. *shrugs* I'm just the author.

Anyway, it's here and on the BSV and also on EF.

Well, this one isn't late season 6/early season 7, but I feel like everybody is way in character. This is post-season 8 comics, so read with caution if you haven't read them.

Embers by coalitiongirl

Buffy is a waitress at a gay coffeehouse, and Spike is a dashing captain of a space ship... and it's not an alternate universe. It's a year after the events of Season Eight, and Buffy is still reeling. But while she and Spike try to sort out the hurt and confusion that Buffy's been dealing with all year, the aftershocks of her betrayal have brought a new enemy forth...one that might just be the one to break her completely.