Very well-written fics

So, SMac, I got intrigued. You have recently stated that you are very "severe" in relation to what constitutes a good read and what doesn't. I agree that it is a lot commoner to find badly-written fics that well-written ones so I would like to ask (particularly) you, as well as, everybody else to give me your recommendations on really well-written fics. They could be either AH or not, I don't mind, and they could have any rating. Please, bear in mind that when I say well-written fics I don't necessarily mean intriguing plotlines but fics with round characters and good dialogue.

Thanks a lot.
Rigoletta

We have a long thread on well-written fics but I see what you did there. A challenge!! Hmmm.... I am frustrated that they all have to be spuffy but I shall rise to the bait. Let me think on it....

Part of the problem of course is that there are great story ideas and summaries that the authors who attempt to write them can't really pull off very well and so you have to decide where to draw your lines on what you'll put up with in order to get the story you really want to read. Everyone draws that line in the sand in a different spot. But if we draw that line in a very strong and close place, not allowing for 'but it's such a good idea!' variances then I think this is where we separate the men from the boys as it were. So that's what I'm going to look for, the ones where they have a good story and have the chops to do it well. And if there are any authors on here whose stories I fail to mention it is not a slight I just may not have read your story yet or forgotten to mention it. It is not a reflection on my opinion of your work. Just to be clear about that.

So that's me. Everyone else who responds to this request will have their own criteria and selections and I don't speak for them. So now, to think...

Hi, I have several I hold in high regard, many are saved on my hardrive, as they are no longer available on the net. I would be happy to share them with you if you pm me.

This story is a favorite of mine. It's more of a Buffy character study. It's all human, so if you don't care for that you're out of luck with this one.

Sadbhyl
~ More Than Strangers
Summary: A chance encounter between a married Buffy and a mysterious man ends up being more than just a casual affair. A continuation of Strangers in a Cafe by Pepperlandgirl4. This story is AU
Rated: NC-17
www.sinister-attraction.net/stories/s/thanstrangers.htm

This is a selection of all human stories from different authors who have also written other really good stories which you should check out. Obviously this is not an exhaustive list of stories I think are very well done.


Crystal by Vanilla

Summary: All-Human AU. A beautiful blonde is undercover for the FBI in Los Angeles. She is working as a computer hacker for one of the country's richest, dirtiest, and most handsome businessmen, who just happens to have a few secrets of his own. Sparks fly, because don't they always?




Dark Sail on the Horizon by jamies_lady

Summary: William is in a monastery wondering about his future when fate takes a hand and he and his cousin are taken in a Viking raid Set a millennium ago



Desire and Deception By Ashlee

Summary: The immediate attraction that Spike felt for Buffy is so strong, it allows him to ignore all of the complications that are in the way of their relationship. Well...almost all of the complications

Sanctuary by MrsMuir

Summary: William Nagle and Alexander Harris have been best friends since the first day they met at Hyperion Preparatory School. Through the years they have always been there for each other. But one of them holds a deadly secret that will affect William's future with Buffy, the woman he loves. Will Buffy be able to hold onto the man she loves or will the secret rip them apart?



Soundtrack for the Night by effection

Summary: In an impulsive attempt to dodge his ex-girlfriend, Drusilla, Spike turns to the girl next to him and asks her if she would mind being his five-minute girlfriend. Little do Spike and Buffy know that such a fleeting moment will lead to a night of possibilities, both heart-breaking and heart-mending, playing with love, hate, loss, and a whirlwind of fun.



The Favourite by Charlie

Summary: When Buffy is on her way to a vacation with Joyce and Dawn, their plane is hijacked, and Buffy is taken hostage. She ends up in a very foreign, Arabian Nights-like country and is sold into slavery. Guess who buys her... WIP



The Trouble With Keeping Promises by Jaesha

Summary: Buffy Summer-Giles loses everything to a horrible accident and is sent to a cruel, uncaring father. Can a promise save her? WIP



Welcome to the Jungle by Niamh

Summary: On the trail of a killer, Spike finds something unexpected

Oh, SMac,

I'd forgotten about Long Time Gone. Do you know where I can find it? It's not on EF, SR, or SA.

Here are some canon/alt reality stories I like and think are well done. Again, this is not an exhaustive list nor are they the only good stories by each author. I have to really pare the list down especially in the canon/AR category because some of the very very best BtVS authors wrote in that category. Also, as in the AH category, most of the stories I think are still available online because although there are tons of great stories not online anymore if I put a bunch of those on here with an "I'll send it to you promise" I'd go crazy since there are sooo many stories people might want. Not that I mind sending people stories at all but self-preservation has to kick in some time.


A Raising in the Sun by Barb C

http://sleepingjaguars.com/buffy/viewseries.php?seriesid=1

Summary: My take on Buffy's return from the dead. The Scooby Gang discovers Magnus Bryce's plan to Raise Buffy using the Scroll of Aberjian, and the race is on to stop him--but Willow has other ideas...Categories: Season 5, Season 6, Alternate Reality



Affinity By Ginmar

Summary: May contain spoilers for 'Dead Things' and beyond. Post-DoubleMeat



As the Romans Do by Helga Von Nutwimple

Summary: Set after the Angel finale. A mightily pissed-off Slayer learns just how far out of the loop she's been kept. Post-Chosen WIP


Dancing Lessons By Various Authors (compiled by cousinjean)

Not available online that I can tell but contact me and I'll send it to you.

Season 5, post-Body AU. Sheiice said: "it's not your usual Buffy-suddenly-realizes-she's-madly-in-love-with-Spike-and-hops-in-the-sack-with-him story!" It's a sort of redemptionist take on how Spike could have developed over the course of the season, and had some realistic dialogue and emotions, as well as neatly tying up the Glory/Key plotline.

Ripping Down The Walls by Peta

Summary: In another dimension, Buffy is friendless and fighting a battle against evil much too close to home, and it is one that she knows will almost certainly bring about her end. But will being sent to fight the evil in another world bring her death faster? Or awaken her to possibilities she'd never even considered? Set AU Season Three and during NFA.


Serpentigena Sequence By Magpie

Not online I think - contact me for a copy if you want one.

Starts after BtVS s6 and AtS s3. Post-Grave, Rated NC-17, Spike/Buffy, Spike/Wesley friendship, Spike/Faith friendship, 274491 words. Warning: Angst, darkness, abuse, horror, smut, and a fluffy ending .



Spiegel Im Spiegel By Fallowdoe

Followed by 'The Protecting Veil' and 'Near to Me'

Summary: Buffy never makes it up Glory's tower. The experiences of Spike and Buffy in an apocalyptic world. Post-The Gift



Strangers by Sosa Lola

Summary: Grief pushes Buffy to do something really stupid. Now she has to deal with the consequences. Things get more complicated when she discovers that Spike is no longer dead.



Such Great Heights by Enigmaticblue

Summary: When Buffy falls through the portal in The Gift, she doesn't die. Instead, she turns up in Sunnydale—twenty years in the future. What happens when the one person she thought she'd never be happy to see is the one person who's stayed the same?

The Baby Series by Mrs Muir

Summary: Series of four epic fics covering the Babyverse. Spike is called away by Drusilla before he can meet Buffy at the Bronze in Tabula Rasa. He doesn't return to Sunnydale until after the fiasco of Xander and Anya's wedding. Things aren't the same as when he left town...especially Buffy.Post-Series, Season 6, Season 7



The Bittersweets Series By Herself

http://www.echonyc.com/~stax/Buffy/herself/index.htm

Summary: An ongoing series of Spike/Buffy tales, meant to be read in order. The first springs from "Wrecked" in season six; the series veers off from canon at that point.



The Use of Memory By st salieri

http://www.echonyc.com/~stax/Buffy/salieri/index.htm

Summary: Starts near the very end of The Girl in Question. It includes some (initial) Spike/Angel as well as (eventual) Spike/Buffy. And since I'm all pretentious and have an unholy love of T.S. Eliot, I took the title from "Little Gidding" from Four Quartets.


World Spins Madly On by Vanilla

Summary: One slight mistake in a spell intended to re-soul Angelus lands Buffy in an alternate universe where no one is who they should be, and nothing makes sense. She's desperate to return to her home, but when she starts to fall for her new Watcher, William Pratt, she begins to wonder where she really belongs. AU after the events of Innocence.


That oughta do it for now. As for where to find Long Time Gone by bitterness she has her own site where that is posted:

http://www.angelfire.com/oxrosesthornxo/longtimegone/longtimegone.html

Hey guys, how about a standing "O" for SMac? What would we do without her? We're grateful, sweetie! We don't say it often enough, but we are!!!!!!!

This is really amzing! I have read a lot of Spuffy but many of the stories mentioned are completely new to me. I am really grateful to you SMac and Sanityfair for your suggestions.

SMac, you got my point 100%. This is exactly what I meant when I said "not necessarily intriguing plotlines". Unfortunately, it happens more often than not that a good storyline and/or summary isn't/aren't necessarily accompanied by a good story, as well.

Thank you very much
Rigoletta

I will say this one thing though: When I copy a story to read I always do a spellcheck because spelling errors make me crazy. So there is the possibility that there are spelling errors in a story that I have completely forgotten about because my copy doesn't have them anymore. So if that is the case I apologize. I simply have no way of remembering any more when I corrected a story and when I didn't so...yeah. If there are lots of errors though I won't even try with a story and I didn't include any stories that didn't stand on their other merits at any rate.

As an aside completely, if you are an author and you cannot spell and/or can't be bothered to find out how to spell something for the love of puppies and all that is fluffy and good please never ever use spellcheck! Once you use spellcheck and spell correctly ALL THE WRONG words there is no more hope for your story. You know what I mean: the 'writhing tablet', the 'clam stair', the 'wall scones'.... I just can't with this. Leave the spelling errors if you aren't going to fix it right and let poor sad obsessive folks like me do the spellcheck when we read it. I am BEGGING you.

ETA: I have read stories though, that the authors couldn't spell if their lives depended upon it but their writing was so stellar and their instincts were so perfect and their characters voices were so spot on that once you cleaned up the spelling issue their stories were spectacular. And one very popular and talented author who I shall not name posted her first ever fanfiction story here at TSR years ago and threw commas at it like they were a glitter bombed with no rhyme or reason but once she pared them down her story was almost perfect in every way. It's just a matter of caring about it and taking some constructive criticism or getting a good beta is all. So I always try a story out before I dump it for bad spelling or weird commas or something because it could be gold that just needs a quick fix to be one of my favorites and I don't know it yet.

And that's about as much as I'm going to say about that. Thank you for listening. LOL You are now returned to your regular programming.