Sidelines

Fanfiction
Title:	Sidelines
Author(s):	Anna S.
Date(s):
Length:
Genre:	slash
Fandom:	Buffy the Vampire Slayer
External Links:	Ao3
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Sidelines is a Spike/Xander story by Anna S.

Reactions and Reviews

Once, way back when, the Spike and I were lazing around, fantasizing about what it would be like if we could get our favorite writers to write our favorite pairings. We were in the Buffy zone at the time, and there was some serious chair-damage at casa del Te at the very *idea* of Anna someday writing Xanderslash.

We thought it would never happen.

We were happily, gloriously, marvelously, wonderfully wrong.

[quoted excerpts]

Why are you still here and not reading this *story*? Are you *nuts*?

Okay, look. Anna takes season four and skews it in her own mad, merry way, taking one of my old complaints -- Xander being way gayer than Willow -- and running with it and. *AND*

Wait for it.

Writing. Plausible. Spike/Xander.

Run, do not walk.

Spike/Xander. This is more a series of little vignettes that flow together than a complete story. Set during season 4, it pulls a little canon-switcheroo with Xander becoming the one who has the Big Revelation that he's gay, instead of Willow. Contains a really interesting rewrite of the Xander dream from "Restless," and takes a number of other little forays into canon.

Why you should read this: I really can't say enough good things about this story or its author. Anna is, from my perspective at least, one of the finest technical writers in fanfic. The sex in this story is unbelievably hot. This is Spike at his pre-Buffylove best: angry, sarcastic, as Big as Bad can be with a chip in his head.

[excerpt]

Anna writes *all* of the characters really well. She treats Buffy with a respect not always given to her by authors of S/X, letting her retain the sense of humor that let us like her in the first place.