katekat | Spring With Xan Redux (day II): 6 Walls, 63 Icons and 6 Picspams (Reply)

So I had this crazy "idea" for my

spring_with_xan day - I thought I'd make wallpapers (and virtual book covers) of my favorite Xander stories. Of course, I have a list of a dozen stories I intended to include and I only managed to make six, but hey, I think I'm doing well. So these wallpapers all come with links to the fic they're inspired by.

+ please let me know what you think
+ please don't modify (talk with me, I'm happy to modify for you!)
+ please don't link directly
+ icon/graphics website HERE, resources HERE.

So, the first three walls are part of an open love letter to

tabaqui and

eliade and

reremouse (all writers who make the Spike/Xander love burn so bright, so rich, and so beautiful). And the second three are in honor of

rakshathewolf and

soft_princess and the writing duo

tesla321 and

dessert_first.

Letters
by

tabaqui
Spike/Xander, NC17

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(2nd version: 1280x1024 l 1024x768)

Out of all the fics that Tabaqui has written (and every one is both memorable and worth returning to), this is the one I love the best. Although this fic is structured around letters, it’s really what doesn’t get said that’s most important sometimes. Tabaqui is a phenomenal writer who adores S/X, and it shows. Both Spike and Xander are hurt on some level, both looking to heal. What’s it all about? Well, in case you hadn’t noticed, when Spike comes back on AtS, he’s a bit at odd ends. Kind of like Xander might be after the end of Btvs. This fic explores what could have happened, what I'd almost like to think have happened, if the Scoobies had descended on Ats at the right time, and Spike and Xander were the ones who decided to head off, see a bit of the world, and then find each other while they were doing it.

Subtleties
by Anna S. (

eliade )
Spike/Xander, NC17

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Anna S (

eliade ) is another one of those authors who is practically cannon in my universe. When I read the first paragraph of this fic, I wondered what the heck I'd gotten into. I was confused. I was intrigued. I felt a little like a perv. At the same time, I read further and found that it is this wonderful, beautiful and often lyrical story. This particular work is entirely self-indulgent, entirely bizarre, yet at the same time it really works at the end. When I was done I was amazed that something so resonant came from such an inauspicious beginning. The premise? Spike is a professional escort in New York and Xander is sent to fetch him and bring him back to a Sunnydale that never fell into the hellmouth. Xander's ridiculously wealthy, and they mess around, and mess around, and mess around some more and it turns into something truly beautiful.

Incident on the Bay of the Descending Dragon
by

reremouse
Spike/Xander, NC17

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Ok, just like Eliade and Tabaqui, I'm heartily and deeply in love with everything Reremouse has ever written. This fic isn't her longest. Nor is it her most complicated. Nor is it her most serious or her most avant-guard. Incident on the Bay of the Descending Dragon is, however, one of the sweetest fics. Sweet in a horny, beautiful, uncomplicatedly complicated kind of way. It's post series, and Xander arrives in Vietnam to collect a slayer and finds... Spike. Reremouse can create beautiful pictures with an economy of words that I not only envy, I find myself falling into. Sights, sounds, smells, and smiles.

Lessons In Cool: That Music Thing & Being John Wayne
by

tesla321 and

dessert_first
Xander/Oz, R

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I tried this fic way back in the day when I wasn't the fanfic wench I am now. It was one of those rainy days where I'd stumbled on a recs list and decided why not. And, here you are, a fic that's a little different and entirely sweet tale. Something about young boys, something about the wonder in this story, just touched me. The first is a story about Oz teaching Xander a little guitar. The second is after the cannon events from S3 with the Xander/Willowness, but is an entirely different take on the Xander/Oz reconciliation. This is the story that made me understand how very adorable these two could be with each other.

Nexus
by

rakshathewolf
Xander/Angel(us), NC17

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This fic crosses a lot of timelines, but the bulk of the story is set in Season 2, after Angelus makes his lovely return. He decides he'd rather hunt Xander than Buffy, and yes, it's *that* kind of a hunt. It's also a hurt-comfort fic of epic proportions (and actually, the only fic I feel I should include warnings about as there is rape, non-con, and some very painful material). At the same time, the pain is also what makes the pleasure of the story so wonderful to read, and what makes the ending so happy.

Dreamland
by

soft_princess
Xander/Giles/Wesley, NC17

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This is the only fic I've presented today that's an AU - quoting from Sofy's summary: Giles is an English Literature teacher specialized in mythology and folklore; Wesley is a book shop owner who used to be Giles' teacher assistant; Xander is a carpenter working for his own account who used to be in Giles and Wesley's class. BUT, that tells you nothing about how magnificent this fic is. The episodes can be taken as stand alone and complete (although Sofy may add something to them if the muse inspires her). Now, as for the fic itself, it is hot. Burning, sizzling hot. Eye-crossingly hot. And sweet, and gentle, and truly beautiful to read. Sofy has such a gentle heart, and it shows in every line how much she loves these three gentlemen characters.

now, for icon teasers: