My Tribute to Xander fic I: Spike/Xander wallpapers
This is a little bit of a love letter. Well, if letters were pictures of pretty boys made into wallpapers and virtual book covers, and if by letter it meant that I co-opted someone else's words in order to show them how much I love them. Except in a totally platonic way.
So, this post is 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. When I'm looking for a story that I know will pick me up and steal my attention and make me smile in all of the best ways, I go back to these stories, by these authors.
And since I couldn't think of any better way to honor these fics and the wonderful authors who wrote them, I've put together book covers and wallpapers to illustrate each fic. Under each cover graphic are links to the fic and links to the different sizes of wallpapers (if you need a size that I haven't made, please drop me a note, I'm happy to modify). They're all sharable, of course! And I hope every one who uses them enjoys looking at them and thinking of the fabulous fics that inspired them as much as I do. (and seriously, if you haven't read these fics and you call yourself a Spike/Xander shipper? Go read!).
Letters
by tabaqui
Spike/Xander, NC17
1280x1024 l 1024x768 (textless 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
1280x1024 l 1280x800 l 1024x768
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
1280x1024 l 1280x800 l 1024x768
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.
So, this post is 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. When I'm looking for a story that I know will pick me up and steal my attention and make me smile in all of the best ways, I go back to these stories, by these authors.
And since I couldn't think of any better way to honor these fics and the wonderful authors who wrote them, I've put together book covers and wallpapers to illustrate each fic. Under each cover graphic are links to the fic and links to the different sizes of wallpapers (if you need a size that I haven't made, please drop me a note, I'm happy to modify). They're all sharable, of course! And I hope every one who uses them enjoys looking at them and thinking of the fabulous fics that inspired them as much as I do. (and seriously, if you haven't read these fics and you call yourself a Spike/Xander shipper? Go read!).
Letters
by tabaqui
Spike/Xander, NC17
1280x1024 l 1024x768 (textless 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
1280x1024 l 1280x800 l 1024x768
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
1280x1024 l 1280x800 l 1024x768
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.