No slayers, no vamps. Mostly.

The Beggar's Gymkana
by Alex Dollard
AU; Romance
Angel/Cordelia, Buffy/Spike
I feel like I should be in an Alcoholics Anonymous type group for people who read High School AUs. This one grabbed my attention because it's focused on Angel/Cordelia rather than the standard Spuffy or B/A. It's short and has a simple plot (everyboy's human and in high school; Cordelia loves Angel, who has just broken up with Buffy, who is dating Spike) but the ending has a twist that turns it all on its head. I liked it.

Blackout
by Williamsgirl
Buffy/Spike
Romance
Two strangers are trapped in an elevator during a blackout. Shorter than most human AUs, so one to go for if you're too busy for one of the million chapter epics.

Blue Horizons
by Kantayra
Buffy/Spike, Xander/Anya, Willow/Tara
AU; Angst; Humour; Romance
This takes us through Buffy Elizabeth Summers' freshman year at a New York university. Her dormmates are Willow, Tara, Xander, Anya, Oz, Devon, Faith, Jonathan and... oh yes, some British guy called William Giles. They're later joined by Cordelia and Andrew. Romance, smut and typical student shenanigans abound. A huge number of canon characters show up, all in clever and appropriate ways (Wesley, Kendra, Veruca, Glory, Harmony, Cecily, Jenny, Olivia, Kathy the demon roommate, others). It kept me diverted for six hours. It made me sniffly, it made me almost fall off my seat with laughter, and it made me wish for a spinoff novel centering around Anya and the rest - because while I love the Spuffy, the rest of the characters are just too entertaining. Anyone who's into AU will read this fic or I shall know why.

Bring Me to Life
by Sweetie
Buffy/Spike
Drama; Angst; Romance
Spike's a hitman hired to kidnap Buffy, the blind daughter of a rich businessman. They hole up in a seedy hotel while Spike waits for instructions and the inevitable falling in love happens. Interesting and well-written.

Cheaper By the Dozen
by Gidgetgirl
Ensemble, Faith POV
WIP. Most of the ensemble cast of both shows are children. Twelve of them are the Giles children, the younger kids headed up by their intrepid 9-year-old sister Faith. I couldn't believe how much this made me laugh, or how touching it is.

Crash and Burn
by Nautibitz
Buffy/Spike
Romance; Humour; AU; WIP
The best everybody's-human AU, period. Buffy's a spoilt little rich girl; Spike is a badass part-time musician nursing a broken heart after being dumped by Drusilla. Naturally sparks fly when they meet. Smutty, hilarious, and with a bunch of nice references to the 'real' Buffyverse.

Full Slate
by Colleen Hillerup
Buffy/Spike
AU; Romance
More fluffiness. Includes some Giles/Anya and Xander/Dawn (or rather Alex/Dawn). I can't get enough of stories that recreate the Amnesiaverse as the real backstory of the characters. The relationship and eventual marriage between Joan and Randy is a little weird seeing as in this reality they were essentially raised as brother and sister (Rupert looking after Joan and Dawn after vampires killed their parents) but I loved the new character histories and it all works, in a strange sort of way. Really liked the cameo by Liam, the other vampire with a soul.

Marriage, Sunnydale Style
by Heather
Buffy/Spike
Romance; humour; AU; WIP
Spike and Buffy have been friends since her senior year, and dating since she broke up with her boyfriend Riley in college. Nine years on, they're preparing for their wedding. Buffy's a counselor in the school where Willow works as a teacher, while Spike works for Angel's detective agency along with Wes, Gunn, Fred, Faith, Gwen and Connor. It's a terrific look at what the Buffyverse would have been like sans vampires and monsters. Plus all the dialogue's great and it's just entertaining as hell. I whined a lot when I reached the end, but thankfully there are more chapters to come.

The Matchmaker
by Desire/Dee
Buffy/Spike
AU; Romance
I know, I know… it's an "everyone's human/high school" AU. And it's based on Clueless. But when this was WIP I checked it with the frenzied compulsion of a madwoman. Buffy's a rich girl who has the need to pair off everyone she knows, but is confused by her growing feelings for her older stepbrother, Spike. It's another popcorn fic - insubstantial but great fun, and I love the weird pairings (Buffy/Oz, Willow/Riley...)

A Midsummer's Nightmare
by Linda Barlow
Buffy/Spike
Humour; WIP
Definitely one of the most original fanfics I've ever read, this is a reworking of A Midsummer Night's Dream with Buffy characters. In Shakespearean language. Even if you don't know the original play, this is sheer genius. Joss needs to buy the rights to this and make it an episode.

Never Just Friends
by Moxie
Buffy/Spike, Willow/Xander
AU; Romance; Humour; Angst
Buffy and Willow are American students at an English university, where they meet Spike and Xander. There's a narrow focus on these four main characters throughout the story. Loved Spike's reaction to finding Buffy in his wardrobe. Spike is referred to as "Spikes" three times in one paragraph, which distracted me for about five minutes as I wondered if he'd managed to divide, amoeba-fashion. I realised a page later that it's deliberate, since Buffy has his name wrong. Clever, funny and a nice touch. All the smut's fun, too (I almost fell off my seat at the inept attempt at roleplaying). This one's a rollicking good read, and you can call me Susan if it isn't so.

Pride and Prejudice
by Ripe Wicked Plum
Buffy/Spike, Giles/Joyce
AU; Drama; Romance
I love this offering from RWP in which Buffy meets her new stepbrother William "Spike" Giles. The two of them hate each other on sight, of course, and you know what that means… This is fun, and I really like the little touches (like the offhand mention of Jesse - who in this reality obviously didn't become a Darla snack - being at Julliard).
Edited to add: the story's now complete, and according to the author's note at the bottom, RWP has gotten hate mail over the ending. I thought the ending was hugely clever, tying the alternate universe back into the "real" Buffyverse.

Shooting Sparks
by Fauvistfly
Buffy/Spike, Spike/Joyce
Romance, Angst, AU*, WIP
This one's not finished yet. Buffy's a photographer, Spike has the beach house beside hers, but they don't realize that the older woman Spike lost his virginity to as a teenager was - Joyce!

Speedway
by Jypzrose
Buffy/Spike, Xander/Cordelia, Willow/m
AU; Drama; Romance
The story that's mostly responsible for the whole human AU genre. After his mum's death, 18-year-old Spike and his dad move to California where Giles Jnr (naturally) enrolls in Sunnydale High. There's an attraction between him and Buffy, but oh dear, she's dating college student Angel Connor (who's possibly the biggest jerk ever in the story). I liked the inclusion of Dawn, the friendship between Spike and Xander was nice, and it's an entertaining read - think popcorn movie style fun. The concept of Spike as a stock car driver is certainly original. It's very long.

Straight on Till Morning
by Starbaby
Buffy/Spike
Romance; Humour; AU
Top horror writer Will tells his wife about a bizarre dream where he was a vampire and she was something called a "slayer"… short AU in which the couple get a happy ending. I loved this, particularly the mention of the crazy neighbour Drusilla.

A Touch of Jealousy
by Echidna
Buffy/Spike
Romance; Drama
Buffy and Spike are high school students and mortal enemies, until Angel dumps Buffy for Dru. In inevitable Hollywood style, they pretend to be dating to make their exes jealous, and end up falling for each other. Hugely long and enjoyable.

Trust Me
by The Brat Queen
Angel/Wesley (past Angel/Darla, Wes/Lilah)
Novel (in several senses of the word). Alone, disinherited and with a newborn baby daughter, Wesley finds himself in Angel's smalltown diner. This is everything I ever wanted in a human AU - the romance is lovely, the dialogue is pitch-perfect (every scene with Connor in it is great) and it finishes up with a twist that turns the whole alternate universe upside down.

Weave and Tear
by Alantie
Buffy/Spike
AU; Romance; angst
Buffy and Spike are best friends, until an ill-advised drunken one night stand in her senior year of college. Afterwards she professes her love, but he doesn't feel the same way. Mortified, she ups sticks and moves to a different state. Nine years later, Joyce caves and gives Spike her new address... Some very nice ideas and pieces of dialogue. I especially liked it after the large time-skip, when Giles, Wes and Fred enter the scene.

Links

Livejournal Buffy AU Community
Always You (Buffy/Spike)
Realm of Fantasy (Buffy/Angel)
spuffyfantasy.com (Buffy/Spike)

All characters