Here be the "what if"s and the season rewrites.

A Very Joan and Randy Christmas
by Shadowlass
Romance; Humour; AU
The Scoobies and Spike never regained their memories after Tabula Rasa. A few weeks on, it's Christmas. Cute, funny, and I loved the Troika's involvement.

Bang/Whimper
by Annie Sewell Jennings
Angst; Romance; AU-season 7
This is my favourite thing that Annie's written, which is high praise indeed. The handful of survivors from Sunnydale go on the run as the First's darkness begins to spread. Made me bawl my eyes out. It's one of those fics I've read so much and been so absorbed by that I remember it like a movie (which probably makes no sense to anyone but me.)

The Bittersweets series by Herself

Cast Away
by Ripe Wicked Plum
Romance; alt-S3; WIP
If you've OD-ed on post-soul angst, give this wildly improbably tale a whirl. Set in the summer after season 3, Buffy and Spike are the only survivors when a cruise ship sinks. They spend six years on a desert island, in which time they fall in love and produce baby Will. It does include two of my fanfic peeves (blood tears and Spike using the awful Mockney word "cor") but it's well-written, fun and fluffy with lots of romance and adventure. Long work in progress.

Bloody Soul
by Kallysten
Character Study; Action/Adventure; AU season 3
Novel. At the end of Becoming, it was Spike who was cursed rather than Angel. This rewrites season 3 with Spike there as he adjusts to the soul and slowly integrates into the gang. Each chapter ends with Spike taking over the narration - not only is the first person voice dead-on, but I love the idea that his version of events is slightly different, because he remembers Dawn being there. I can't wait for the sequel to this.

The Chip
by Treacle Antlers
Drama; Angst; alt-S7
Spike and Buffy are friends, but when he starts to act mysteriously she begins to suspect he's up to his old tricks again. There's angst as she gears up to kill him, but is it all a misunderstanding? I liked.

Dancing Lessons/War/Restoration
Romance; Drama; Angst; Action; Tragedy; Humour; Other Pairings; Just about everything. Branches off from canon after Crush.
Possibly the ultimate Spuffy fic. This is an immense round-robin trilogy (two novel-length parts done, part three, Restoration, in still in progress) which spins off from continuity after Crush and builds a whole new season five and six from there. I loved this because not only is there a lovely - and angsty, and believable - romance between Spike and Buffy, everyone gets something important to do. Even minor characters like Jonathan get to shine (though I was amused at Riley's fate). The middle part, War, had me staying up all night to finish it. I really can't recommend that part enough, even if you don't read the first or last stories; 'War' is like Lord of the freakin' Rings for epic scale and grand battles. I'd sell my soul to Numfar to see this played out on screen. WIP.

Descant Descending by Macha
Unclassifiable. Seriously. I give up. S7
To requote what I said in rashaka's journal after I read it: did e.e.cummings and Neil Gaiman have a baby together and nobody tell me? My father and brother both called while I was reading this, and now they both think I'm on drugs because I was so spacy and incoherent. Not my fault. I think my brain melted. In a nutshell (and it's not possible to put this fic in a nutshell), this is a reworking of the legend of Orpheus in the Underworld with Spike as Eurydice. What sets this apart is that astonishing style. The story's told in poetry, prophecy, myth, conversation, meta-analysis of the Buffyverse by people in the real world, Greek chorus... I've never read anything quite like this. Beautiful and stunning.

Folie a Deux
AU; Normal Again
Set in the Normalverse/Asylumverse; a short piece that manages to perfectly create this alternate reality in very few words. Any more would give it away, but I'll add that I loved who William's parents were in this reality.

Into the Blue
by Ascian
Angst; Character Study; AU; Normal Again
Buffy comes back to the 'real' world and tries to adjust to life outside Sunnydale. She goes to college, gets married, takes her medication and seems to be getting on with her life, until she starts to see Spike and Willow again. I loved the surrealism of the overlapping realities and the confusion of which one is real.

It's Not Where You Start Out
by Kelly Frieders
Action; Romance; Angst; Alt-S6
Novel-length adventure for those who don't want the shippiness to take over from a good plot. The monks who created Dawn want their Key back, but Buffy is strangely reluctant to let her sister be magicked out of existence. Meanwhile, she's starting to have feelings for Spike, but things are complicated when Ethan Rayne removes his chip. Written pre-season six, this is a cracking good read.

Journey Home
by Benerasq
Horror; Darkfic; alt-S6
Includes minor Buffy/Willow. What would you do if it meant getting back to heaven? There's a great slow build of creeping horror to this short story. Warning for character death.

Judgment
by Medea
Action; Drama; Angst; Romance; alt-S6
Branching off from canon after Wrecked, this picks up right after an apocalyptic battle with "Darth" Willow that leaves her drained of power. Unwilling to have her anywhere near Dawn, the gang takes her to the Hyperion, where Buffy's startled to find out about Connor. When Willow regains consciousness it transpires that in only a few hours, her spirit has lived out three and a half centuries worth of lives in demon dimensions. This is a terrific story in which the romances (Buffy/Spike and maybe Angel/Cordy) are subplots - well dealt with but not the main focus of action. The concept of Willow's actions leading to the destruction of six worlds was great.

Life in Sunnydale
by Caro
Romance; Drama; alt-S6; WIP
A long rewriting of season 6 that sees Spike and Tara taking over the Magic Box and he and Buffy gradually move into a better relationship. I couldn't put this down.

Necessary Evil
by Barb
Romance; Drama; Angst; alt S6
This is the season six I wanted to see. Follows on from her story A Raising in the Sun, though all you need to know is Willow, Spike and Dawn raised Buffy, sacrificing Spike/William's soul in the process, and she has no memories of heaven. This is a terrific novel (still in progress) about Buffy starting a relationship with Spike and all the problems it entails. There's angst, but also nice romance, and I was very impressed how well the references to the real season six fitted in (Clem, mention of the Doublemeat Palace - though thankfully Buffy doesn't work there, kitten poker). Her version of Willow's turn to the dark side is much more convincing too.

The Passage of Memory
by Laura Dean Brierly
Action/Drama; alt-S7; WIP
It took me the longest time to characterize this one, and "action/drama" is still a bad way to summarise it. Think American Gods crossed with Lord of the Rings and you'll be a little closer. Spike chases Buffy across the world as she tries to find a way to destroy the Tear, an artefact that could destroy the world and which has half the demons on the planet gunning for her. The tale of love and sacrifice is interwoven with mythology from Japan, India, Egypt and other cultures. The writing is among the best I've found; my only complaint is that it's not nearly long enough. The ending ripped my heart out.

Rising From Our Dust
by Mahaliem
Angst; Romance; Action; Script Form
Buffy/Spike, Anya/Giles, Willow/Xander
A long series of this author's take on season seven. And it's a pretty good one. Nice romance between Giles and Anya, UST for Xander and Willow, a non-irritating Dawn and (of course) Spuffiness. The dialogue's right for all the characters (hard to do) and there's a nice relationship between Xander and Spike. Uh, not in a slash way. Well, some slashiness... There's even bunnies. I liked this a lot. And I don't mind script format when it's used properly and consistently, as this is.

Roundabout
by Devil Piglet
Action; Drama; Horror; alt S6
When Buffy is seemingly taken over by a dark force, Spike has to go on the run with Dawn. Edge-of-your-seat exciting and very scary but it manages to have sweet interactions between the characters too. Love love love this story.

School Days
by Saber Shadowkitten
Humour; Romance; alt S3/4; Slash
Spike/Buffy, some Spike/Angel
This is a totally ludicrous premise (a long series in which Spike and Buffy go to college together) and I absolutely adore it. The details about Spike's past have by now been Jossed to oblivion but they add a nice touch of seriousness to all the fun and games. The perfect antidote to all the gloom and angst of late season 6. (Warning for some slash - Spike/Angel. I won't go into why exactly they passionately kiss in front of Principal Snyder, but it's most amusing).

Season Noir
by AnnaS
Angst; Darkfic; Action
An ensemble series, though the emphasis is on Buffy/Spike (the rest of the characters have roles - Willow in particular is excellent). As the name suggests it's dark and edgy. The series takes on a Casablanca feel as demons take over Sunnydale and the Scoobies form a resistance. But whose side is Spike on? Great writing, it's very long and still a WIP. I like that it's available in long parts rather than lots of short ones.

Spike and Buffy, Lost in Cyberspace
by Anne Rose
Humour; Drama; rewrite of S6
I resisted reading this for ages because it sounded like one of those stories where the characters somehow discover fanfic. And… well, it's one of those stories where the characters discover fanfic. But the "inter-dimensional hacking" is only a minor part of the plot and it's developed in a clever way as Spike turns his knowledge of the future to their knowledge. I loved the idea of the characters sabotaging season six. And the scene at the wedding with Spike dubbing Angel chatting up Halfrek is hilarious ("As much as I'd love to ravish you, as you can tell by the way I'm staring down the front of your dress, while pretending to look at my son - you see, my soul was restored in this really slipshod way and any happiness could bring about the end of the world…")

Strange Bedfellows
by Keren and Meredith
Humour; Alt S5
Written in script format and set in an alternate season five that branches off after Crush, this is bloody hilarious. Unicorns, fairy tales, superheroes, a reappearance of William and a crossover with Angel make this much more fun than anything we saw on screen this year. The dialogue is perfect and the format actually helps you imagine this happening on screen. This is very long, and all the Scoobies (plus characters like Harmony) get things to do. You must read this fic.

Sweeter Than Oranges
by Wisteria
Romance; Angst; alt S6
A sequel to a story called Happiness, but I first read it on its own. Buffy might be falling in love despite herself. Wisteria is one of those writers who paints pictures with her words. This is just beautiful.

Until
by Heather Long
Action; Romance; alt S6
Spike wishes for a world where Buffy could love him. His wish seems to be granted when he finds himself in a reality where he's human, about to become Buffy's watcher, and Joyce is still alive. Life seems good, but it goes downhill very fast when Willow and Angelus get in on the act. Nicely plotted and really well-written. Does contain a little bit of Buffy/Xander, but Xander's dead in this wishverse so it's all past tense.

All characters