Spike/Xander

Pairing
Pairing:	Spike/Xander
Alternative name(s):	Spander
Gender category:	m/m, slash
Fandom:	Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Canonical?:	no
Prevalence:	popular
Archives:	The Spander Files
Other:
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Spike/Xander is the pairing of Spike and Xander Harris from the Buffyverse.

Canon

In canon, Xander and Spike have an antagonistic relationship, which started all the way in season 2 episode "School Hard" when Angel offered Xander to Spike in order to trick the younger vampire. Later on the seemingly mutual dislike was fueled even more after Spike slept with Xander's former fiancee Anya and after Spike's attempted rape on Buffy at the end of season six.

Spike and Xander have lived together twice – during season four when Spike was first chipped by the Initiative and during season 7 after Spike won his soul back and subsequently went 'bug-shagging crazy' with guilt.

Xander (to Buffy): "No one is judging you. It's understandable. Spike is strong and mysterious and sort of compact, but well muscled."

Buffy: "I am not having sex with Spike! But I'm starting to think that you might be!"

Fandom

There was a small portion of the Buffy fandom shipping Spike and Xander following the second season. However this was not a common or popular ship until season 4, when there was more interaction between the characters. For a time, S/X was believed to be the most popular slash pairing within the fandom. However this is open to debate as the disparate nature of early online fandom makes it difficult to rank ships.

Despite their antagonistic relationship and their limited interactions in canon, this ship has remained popular and works are still been produced.

Common Tropes

• Xander was offered to Spike by Angel in the second season episode "School Hard," and although he never formally accepted, many fanfiction authors use this as a plot device – Xander as Sire's gift and Spike returning to take what was his.
• In season one episode "The Pack", Xander is possessed by a hyena spirit. This resulted in a lot of fics (Hyena!Xander is a very popular trope) where the hyena spirit returns/never left and claims Spike as part of pack and/or mate.
• In season 4, a chipped Spike is kept tied up in Xander's basement apartment. This scenario was a jumping off point for many fics.
• Post-Not Fade Away fics, set after the final episode of the Angel (TV) series.
• Vampire!Xander works can be canon divergent where Xander becomes a vampire, sometimes sired by Spike. Other fics were set in the canon Wishverse.
• Threesome fics often paired Spike and Xander with Angel or Anya Jenkins.

Notable Fanworks

Fanfiction

• Post-Grad and Post-Grad II: On Holiday (March/April 1999 & April 1999) may be the first Spike/Xander stories written
• Sweet Revenge by Jackson. Spike's well-laid plan to revenge himself on the Scoobies misfires. (2001)
• Repossession (archived link) by Lazuli, an epic and widely recced Spander futurefic (2002 or earlier)
• Cues and Balls, ^{Archived version} by Estepheia. Xander, Spike, the Bronze, a game of eight ball Words: 10332. (2003)
• Let's Talk About Sex by Estepheia, Unlife takes an interesting turn when Xander visits Spike with an unusual proposal… (S/X/Anya, 2003)
• A Long Time by The Mad Poetess (2003 or earlier)
• Sandy Places Series by James Walkswithwind (2003 or earlier)
• Waffle House by Sajinn, (2004)
• It’s Just A Jump To The Left by kimberly_a. During the summer after Buffy's death after the end of Season 5, Xander finds himself stuck in some kind of time loop with Spike. How can Xander stop the time loop? And what is causing it? Words: 37,401. (2004)
• Late Night Double Feature by kimberly_a. Sequel to It’s Just A Jump To The Left. Basically, the fallout.
• Sidelines(Ao3 Link) by Anna S. Rewrite of season 4. If Xander had gone through the 'big gay change' instead of Willow. (2004)
• Beautiful Broken by LitGal. Canon Divergence AU. Six months after Xander disappeared, Spike finds the missing Sunnydale boy, who has changed greatly in his time away from the gang. A story of about recovery from the darkness and pain of torture.(2005)
• Pixie Dust, ^{Archived version} by sharkie335 (2010)

Fanart

Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples.

• 

  Spike and Xander by Caes-Doodles, 2010

Fanvids

Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples.

• Spike/Xander || Laid by Sisabet and Drdrawn (2003)

Zines

• Twilight Time

Recs and Reviews

[zandra-x]

Spike/Xander fic always attracts me and I thoroughly enjoyed this essay. The point you made, "Spike and Xander attempt to use magick to solve their problems" had never occurred to be before. I love it when I get a new thought about something I've grown used to thinking about. ::little light bulb over my head::

[gloss]

Aww, this is lovely! Very thorough and very sweet.

[...]

Through s3, Xander expresses appreciation for lots of guys, and even in s5, he notes how compact and well-muscled Spike is. Moreover, "Phases" is an awesome look into his homopanic when Larry comes out to him, and it gets picked up again in "Earshot". I've always figured Xander was bi at the very least, even if he never *did* anything about it.

Archives, Communities & Resources

• The Spander Files - one of the biggest Spike/Xander specific archives
• BloodClaim - Spike/Xander LJ Community
• Spike/Xander works on AO3
• The Spike/Xander page, ^{Archived version} at All About Spike

Meta

• Why Spike and Xander? A Comparison of Similarities by Djinanna
• Spike/Xander - How? Why? by Spuzz
• Spike/Xander: A Casual User's Guide by Wiseacress.

Resources

• Spike/Xander ship manifesto at LJ community ship_manifesto
• Pondering the appeal of the Spike/Xander Ship, ^{Archived version} by yourlibrarian, 2016 (originally posted June 26, 2005)
• S/X and Violence, the Spike/Xander Zone of the BtVS Writers' Guild
• S/X, Lies, and Fiction, defunct mailing list linked to S/X and Violence

References

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