We have new Scoobies of the Month Interviews! :o) Hope you enjoy them! 

Commenter of the Month for August 2023, American Aurora

How did you come to watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer?

I have to admit that I never watched BtVS when it originally ran. I had several friends who were fans and they were always trying to get me to watch it, but I was always flooded with work and theater projects.

The only episode I ever saw was the musical episode Once More With Feeling because that's my field. Of course, all of the Broadway musical theatre community at the time could talk of nothing else, but I freely admit that it didn't really appeal to me at the time because I had no idea where it was coming from. I only continued to hear about Buffy sporadically until the end of Season Seven, but it wasn’t until 2014 that I actually sat down to watch it.  And I was hooked! 

When and why did you decide to read fanfiction for the show?

When I was a little kid, I was a voracious reader - gorging on Shakespeare and Dickens and other lit like candy – but I was also obsessed (like most kids) with movies and television shows. And fanfiction became a particular passion of mine. 

I was always drawn to art that reacted to previous works in a perpetual ripple of influence like Dante’s Divine Comedy that took so much from Virgil. I also loved fan-created stories that transformed an already existing work into something intensely communal and dynamic. So, like any typical Gen X-er, I started to read fan fiction and became familiar with the art form.

In sixth grade, we were assigned to write an essay comparing categories (breeds of cats, for example) and I thought it would be clever to do an essay on fan fiction. So, I turned in a long twelve-page paper detailing the various fanfic genres of Star Trek – Gen, Mary Sue, Hurt/Comfort, Alt Universe, K/S, Crossover – and my very conservative older teacher wigged out and accused me of making it all up.

You should have seen his face when I showed him various fan fictions. Slash, in particular, was not as familiar to the general public as it is now and it shocked him that this kind of thing existed. He kept shaking his head as he looked at fan art of Kirk and Spock kissing, muttering, "My GOD! What has this world come to?" 

I graduated with a film degree (and ended up working in theater as a script editor/writer) but I’ve fought ever since against academic and critical disapproval of fan fiction throughout my entire life. It comes down to an inability to see beyond the highbrow/lowbrow dynamic.  Sadly, there’s also a tendency to disparage art forms like fan fiction that are associated with women creators.

Fanfic fascinates me - because I like to see the mirror reflecting back on the original work. It works on so many levels because fan writers and readers aren’t just passive consumers, but creators that engage with the original and often act as a second layer of cultural meaning.  I believe fan fiction has had a major effect on the way in which audiences perceive the original creators/copyright holders – often creating a communal wave of transformative texts that find their way into new reiterations of that world.

So, once I watched Buffy, I immediately searched for fan fiction and was really taken by the sophistication and incredible creativity of the authors in expanding the scope of the show while still staying true to its essential meaning.  I think it’s one of the strongest fandoms out there and I‘ve enjoyed reading both modern fics and exploring the Internet Archive for older fics from the late 90s when the show first ran. 

And I’m very grateful to posters from several wonderful sites like Buffy Tube and Buffy Forums who made numerous suggestions of fics to read and fan fic sites to explore – Sunnydale After Dark becoming my absolute favorite place for Spuffy!

Why do you love Spike and Buffy?

Outside of the fact that both are fantastic original characters who bring a tremendous amount of charm and pathos to the show and are played by two dazzlingly brilliant actors, I love the two of them together because I adore what their relationship says about identity and the sense of self. 

We watch bit by bit as William Pratt makes his journey from timid momma’s boy to heartless monster to chipped menace who sometimes aids Buffy and her friends – and sometimes undermines them. And as the various outward layers are added to Spike – his accent, his name, his scar, his coat, his hair, his chip – he tries out different identities to figure out what he should be – each identity is continuously built from the ground up.

But Spike, Slayer of Slayers, begins to fragment as long-repressed emotions of his former identities as William Pratt and William the Bloody began to emerge when he falls in love with Buffy. The drama of the choice that Spike has to make – to remain Spike, Big Bad and killer of two Slayers – or become someone else entirely underlies so much of the complex meaning of their relationship.

And Buffy faces many of the same issues. She’s unwillingly called as a Slayer to fight the forces of darkness, moving from sheltered valley girl to heroic fighter who never quite fits in anywhere and struggles to maintain some sense of normalcy.  She suffers the fragmentation of her family, the sense of dislocation in moving to Sunnydale and falls in love with a vampire – albeit, with a soul.

But due to her training, Buffy psychologically separates his vampire side utterly from the Angel she grows to love, treating it almost like an affliction or a disease that Angel has to bear. There is a clear line made between Angel and the vampires she dusts – for he has a soul and they have no soul. And a Buffy who longs for normal – who doesn’t want to even think that she can be attracted to the freakish, the bizarre, the monsters – clings to this difference as justification for why she can love Angel.

She is still in this mindset (as is the audience) when she meets Spike, the unsouled monster of her nightmares. She clings to the belief in a soul as the decisive factor in determining worth – and this is why she sees him through that distorted lens. But when Angel turns into Angelus, Buffy realizes what a knife edge her trust of Angel’s souled state rests upon. Ironically, it’s soulless Spike’s love for Drusilla that creates the alliance that finally defeats Angelus.  And his growing love for her that changes their dynamic from enemy to ally to friend to lover.

And we slowly learn that Spike’s transformation is driven by his past self – his former memories as a human with all the psychological pathos that entails. And this really throws a monkey wrench into the Buffyverse – because the insistence that a soul is needed for moral compass has now been superseded by the idea that a continuous identity can override monstrous instincts. That the memories of who a vampire was can actually have an effect on the actions of a soulless vampire.

And whether Spike stays soulless or gets a soul in fanfiction, his character is driven by this apparent contradiction.  And that forces Buffy to make a decision of her own – instead of Spike dragging Buffy into the darkness as he had hoped, Buffy begins to pull Spike into the effulgent light instead through their mutual love.

I absolutely adore this dynamic – the complexity of their relationship is in so many ways at the heart of the show because it reaches to the core of our own sense of self.  The possibilities for real change – for a fundamental growth in personal identity – are glimpsed through an awakening of love.  And that love – as personified by mortal Buffy – connects immortal Spike to human time and therefore allows for the possibility of change and escaping the unchanging life of a vampire. His awareness and concern for her mortality – her burden of a short life, her courage against an impending death and her human ties to others around her – links Spike to find his own identity in a changing world. 

What words of advice would you give other fans who comment or are considering maybe commenting on fanfiction?

To avoid a neat correlation between artwork and artist where you fit the right shaped block into the right shaped hole. For some people, analyzing art works are akin to solving little ity-bity Fisher-Price wooden puzzles. Real life doesn’t work that way, of course – and I think the arts are the same.

In fan fiction, an author starts with a loosely bound series of plots and characterizations that vaguely shape their way.  But when they find the real truth and purpose driving their story – the character, the theme, the plot, the essence, whatever it may be – the author deviates from the original intent of the work to follow that discovery wherever it may lead them.

A fanfic writer has to rely on their instincts - not concentrating on mundanities like grammar or word choices or characterizations that necessarily hew closely to the original work, but slowly developing a certain flair, an original style, a unique way of expressing new ideas in the verse that are shaped into something really fine.

So many times, I’ve seen a playwright’s work coalesce around a theme that they were completely unaware of while writing their play – yet embrace it when they see it played out on a stage. Writing is a way of cutting away the marble – of shaping the clay – without necessarily knowing the ultimate form. This is why they call writing “the process.” Whether novel, play, screenplay, or fanfic, what comes out is never what the artist originally intended.

And it’s the same for commentary. Art reaches us on an instinctive level. It works beneath the surface so that we use our own experiences to “read” what is happening.  In that sense, commentary becomes a symbiosis between the author and the commentator with multiple streams of meaning enhancing the enjoyment and analysis of the work. 

Any given artist has umpteen impulses that lie dormant in their work – the job of the commentator is to tease out the unconscious and conscious themes and make meaningful connections.  So, a commentator should be open to being engaged on several different levels – some intentional by the author and some unintentional – as they read a transformative work that engages with the original in such an intense way.

There’s an old saying – strong artists don’t put others down – they lift them up. I think it’s an intensely humbling and thrilling experience to engage deeply with a writer’s work and offer one’s own unique perspective.

From womanaction:

You write such gorgeous, detailed comments - can you walk us through your process?

It’s the same process that I use when reading a new work – carefully examining the work while teasing out themes and trying to divine the author’s intention. I try to become emotionally and intellectually involved with the work to the best of my ability to understand on an instinctive level the process which led the writer to make certain decisions.

There’s nothing more exciting than experiencing a writer consciously or unconsciously expressing themselves through plot and characters. I love how it slowly reveals their viewpoint and beliefs regarding all aspects of the original work.  The time, the place, the situation, the point of view, the character reactions, the plot points all expressing a unique take on BtVS and the Spuffy relationship.

It may be that I’m too influenced by the theater, but I try to imagine the surroundings, the expression of character and the dialogue as if it were on a screen or on stage and try to viscerally react to that immediacy by marking out acting beats and subtle shifts in attitude. But I’m also often taken with the descriptive prose which creates a kind of symbiotic bond between reader and author.

And when certain passages stand out as particularly dramatic or humorous or suspenseful, I love to quote them back to the writer and spin them around and contextualize them within the whole piece to let the author know how much I enjoyed them.

What are your top 3 Spuffy genres or tropes?

Oh, I love all Spuffy genres from Fluff to Hurt/Comfort to All Human.  But I’m especially taken with post-series fics which feature a complex reunion, slow burns in which it takes FOREVER to develop their relationship and psychological studies of a dark nature that explore real-life issues such as Depressed Buffy/Depressed Spike.

Author of the Month for August 2023, womanaction

How did you come to watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer?

I had caught a few episodes when it was originally on, but I didn’t really watch it through until 2012. I had a suspicion it would be right up my alley – I even had an OC at one point I named after Willow, who had always been my favorite character as a casual viewer. I also spent a lot of time in the 2000s on TVTropes, which began its life as a Buffy-specific site, and I had absorbed a lot about the show from there. Plus, I was already a Firefly fan! But I knew it was a big commitment, and that I would probably be obnoxious about it forever once I got into it (which turned out to be 100% correct), so I was saving it for the perfect moment, and that happened to be it for me. I had a couple of free hours to kill before I needed to be somewhere, and after I watched the first two episodes I was forever changed.

When and why did you decide to write fanfiction for the show?

At the time I started seriously watching, I had been writing fanfiction and publishing it to fanfiction.net for around 8 years, so it wasn’t surprising to me when I wanted to start exploring the world of Buffy fanfiction. I wrote some Angel/Cordelia and some gen before finally tumbling headfirst into the Spuffy writing world, although I do sometimes write other ships (and gen, still – see my AO3, same username, if you’re interested).

I was really resistant to shipping Spike and Buffy at first, which is why my username on Elysian Fields is kind of embarrassingly 2000s (though it may be changed by the time this is published – thanks, Dusty, for letting me know that was possible!) – I never really expected to do anything but lurk and maybe write a few comments, so I just used my old fanfiction.net username as something I’d remember!

Why do you love Spike and Buffy?

Okay, like I said above, I definitely never intended to ship them. I was aware they were a big ship in the fandom, but I was firmly set against it. My impression of the ship was that it was all about the sexiness of mortal enemies getting it on, and I had always been someone that was more into “Friends-To-Lovers” (or, okay, “Enemies-to-Friends-to-Lovers”, but the friends part was important!).

And then I got to Becoming Part 2, and they were working together like they’d known each other all their lives, making little side comments and shooting each other looks and generally living in their own little world and I was like well, okay, I kind of get it. I don’t ship it, but you know, I get it.

I was mostly able to put it out of my mind over the next couple of seasons even as I enjoyed Spike’s character and then, well. Out of My Mind happened. And even though I knew it had to be a dream sequence, I felt my heart leap. Against my better judgment, I was all on board, even in parts of season six when I really wished I could take it back.

I say this to emphasize what first drew me to Spuffy: the way they work together, even as professed mortal enemies. The way they get each other, from day one – undeniable weirdos, “embarrassing freak couple” that they are, they get each other down to each last poetry-reading, thrill-seeking, never-have-a-normal-life inch. And what kept me away from them, the fact that they are supposed to be mortal enemies. Even when they get past actively trying to kill each other, they’re still resisting any identification or partnership with the other. The push and pull of these dynamics are infinitely fascinating.

Even more, what keeps me coming back is the sheer number of “eras” we could say they go through. From mortal enemies to reluctant allies, from unrequited obsession to confidantes, from the hottest hookup on the show to two people who are indescribably tender after hurting the other one so much…each of these phases is just one side of the complex dynamic that is Spuffy, and there are always more depths to plumb.

Plus, you know, they’re both utterly gorgeous, hilarious, and two of my favorite characters on the show. That helps.

Which three fanfics that you’ve written are your favorite? Why are they your favorite?

This is hard, because I think I’m immediately drawn to the multi-chapter fics, and I only have a few of those that are Spuffy (two of which I’ve written in the past year, which I never expected to happen!).

But I am going to pick those two anyway. For “ever waiting airports,” I’m really happy with the characterization and the pacing. This one was not especially easy for me to write – I probably did the most rewriting of any fic I have ever written, and I constantly felt like I was threading the needle in terms of this theme of semi-infidelity. I really wanted to tell this story in a way that honored all the characters and left them all in a good place, but also wasn’t afraid to look at the ugly parts. I also expected it to only be a few chapters – oops! But I’m really happy with how it turned out.

Second, I’ll go with “If Only” (which is not on SAD yet at the time of writing this – sorry, I’m working my way back through and editing in reverse alphabetical order!). I’m pleased with where that one landed tonally, and it’s literally my only Season 4 fic. I can’t say the idea is especially original, as a Something Blue canon divergence, but I found it outrageously easy and fun to write. I really like when I get to write Spuffy sort of silly and stream-of-consciousness.

Finally, I think I’d pick “It’s Wrong!” I have written so many “season 6 but not depressing” Spuffy fics at this point that I’m worried it may just be my brand, but this one is probably my favorite. On a reread I’m always pleased at how packed and parsimonious it is in telling a little arc for Buffy, and while it’s entirely indulgent (of myself) that suits me just fine.

What words of advice would you give other fans who write or want to write fanfiction?

Write what you want to read! If you’re not enjoying writing something, there may be a reason for that. I saw a post the other day that said “fanfiction should be funfiction”, and I think that’s right on the money. There were a few years I hardly wrote anything because it wasn’t bringing me much joy (probably not a coincidence this was during the most intensive years of grad school), then one day I felt like writing again and so I did! If I stop enjoying it, I’ll stop. Similarly, never forget the Two Cakes Rule. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel or write the best fic ever on your first try (or your hundredth try!) for people to be really excited to read your story.

That said, there are ways you can push yourself to make sure you stay in the habit if that’s something you value. For me, it’s writing a chapter ahead on a multi-chapter fic, so I can look forward to the fun of posting and potentially receiving some great comments. For others, it’s writing on a schedule (a total joy-suck for me). I like outlines; some people hate them. There are some challenges/events I really enjoy, like gift exchanges or the recent Spiral Spuffy event, and there are other ones I know will feel like more of a stressor to me so I sit them out and enjoy being a reader. Don’t be afraid to try new things, but you don’t have to do everything. 

From: American Aurora:

Reading all of your fics, they seem to be divided between one-shots and longer pieces. Which do you prefer to write and do you approach each type of fic differently?

This is a hard one! I really like the feeling of things being done. I have abandoned lots of fics in my time (mostly not Spuffy, although there is one over on EF that I won't be moving here since I abandoned it in 2015), and I hate doing that, so I tend to have a constant level of stress when writing something multi-chapter. So I probably enjoy writing one-shots more, but the ultimate sense of accomplishment is better when I do manage to finish a MC fic! Because of this, I do tend to plan out my longer fics more, but otherwise my process is really similar. Honestly, even for longer fics, I tend to get the first chapter or so on the page before I really decide what the rest will look like (because if I don't have fun writing that first chapter I probably won't write the rest - I have a lot of first chapters on my computer that will probably never see the light of day). Sometimes I have an idea for a longer fic and then it turns out I'm happy with it as a oneshot when it's done.

I was really taken with the level of understanding and empathy that you extend to almost every character in your work despite their flaws. How difficult was it to keep certain characters sympathetic despite some rather dubious actions (such as Riley or Angel)?

That means a lot to me, thank you. I'm very character-driven (in my writing and in what I like to read - and what I take from the things I read, watch, etc.) so I'm always trying to work through different characters' mindsets. Sometimes I will write at least an outline of a chapter/story from multiple character perspectives to make sure I'm not losing their story and POV. In fics like "airports" I have a clear place I want the characters to end up, and in some ways the plot is shaped mostly to allow them those chances (even if the development ends up "offscreen"). I enjoy this approach, but I don't think I could do this for characters I don't already have some level of empathy with. Warren stands out as a Buffyverse example of a character I would find it difficult to write as a character and not just a plot device with dialogue.

You do an incredible job of depicting both Buffy and Spike’s POV in so many fics so that the reader sides with both of them equally – how hard is it to keep that delicate balance?  

I feel like these questions illustrate what makes you such an effective and amazing reviewer, because you really get at the heart of what different authors' goals are and there is no better feeling as a writer. This is the thing that keeps me up at night sometimes. I'm currently working on a sequel to "Magic Fingers" in Spike's POV and the biggest roadblock has been trying to get a real sense of where Buffy's mindset should be and how much Spike (and readers) can pick up on it. Sometimes I find it much easier to write Buffy's POV because she often holds back on her thoughts and feelings much more than he does, and her actions can be opaque (or even seem irrational) if we don't get a good sense of what's going on internally. My biggest worry with writing Spike is more about making sure he doesn't come off too well, lol. I love a trying-to-be-good!Spike, but emphasis on trying, so my biggest struggle writing him is usually about striking that balance between his instincts and his better angels and figuring out when he's likely to listen to each. Luckily, they are my two favorite characters, so I don't mind spending some extra time with each of them to try and figure these things out!

We have new Scoobies of the Month Interviews! From this month on, the interviews will be posted on the 15th of the month to give the Scooobs time to respond and the rest of us a deadline. Where did July go?

Commenter of the Month for July 2023, Marina Eulalia

How did you come to watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer?

My daughter has been watching Buffy at least once a year for the past twenty years, and she'd occasionally tell me that she wanted to watch it with me. I kept wondering why in the world? She knew I was not into sci-fi, fantasy, horror... and teen shows? I was 73, and my TV and film tastes were pretty well established. Then her dad passed away quite suddenly last April (2022). As he was truly my BFF, even after we separated eons ago, his loss and the subsequent grief hit us both like a freight train. The following September, I went to her place to spend some time and share some mutual comfort with her, and she got me started on the show. I was immediately fascinated by the unusual mix of genres, and the constant humor lacing through it, which we both really needed. Not to mention the exceptional way it was filmed, the wonderful dialogs, the outstanding acting. Each episode seemed to me to have been produced like a feature film. We watched all 144 episodes in record time, then once I was back home, I did two more rewatches back-to-back. Needless to say, it took half a second for Spike to become my favorite character—I have a history of attraction to bad boys who are also smart, have an acute sense of sarcasm, great looks, can show deep devotion, and are basically rebels, all of which was made evident as soon as we met him. Of course, given the circumstances, "The Body" had me shamelessly sobbing. I love musicals, and when we reached "Once More With Feeling" I was jumping out of my shoes. The growth over the years of each of the characters blew me over. The whole show was both cathartic and gripping, with its myriad levels of depth and meaning, even triggering a lot of metaphysical thinking.

When and why did you decide to read fanfiction for the show?

Along the way, I discovered that YouTube had an infinite amount of BtVS videos, and Spuffy videos in particular. I watched, and watched, and watched. I joined and became active on the James Marsters Facebook page, where I documented his entire acting career, because I'd found him to be such a superlative actor, surely he'd have been given other formidable roles (IMHO, no, not really). In this overall tableau of my basically Spuffy obsession, I kept returning in my mind to the fade-to-black scene:

18 INT. BASEMENT AT BUFFY'S HOUSE - NIGHT
Spike holds out the amulet in front of him, letting it dangle from its chain, and stares at it thoughtfully. Buffy walks down the stairs. Spike stands and faces her. [Thank you, SAD Transcript  Library!]

I'd read that Whedon had decided to leave how that night played out to the viewers' imagination. Okay, but I needed that imagination to be properly fleshed out. I'm primarily a reader. I can't remember when I haven't started and ended each day with some reading, sometimes whole week-ends and the bulk of my vacation time. I'd never even heard of fanfiction, but in my various Facebook BtVS wanderings I began to see some references to it, so I pulled up my search engine with a single goal, which was to find how others had written out that "missing scene." The first of these that came up was on SAD (yay!). I decided to join last November, but I got all muddled with remembering my ID and password, couldn't get back in, and finally in February, I wrote to the SADmins, got an immediate and very friendly reply, and then just... closed my eyes (metaphorically speaking) and dove into the deep end. And WOW! I had no idea! The multitude of genres, the brilliance of the writing, the warm and fuzzy sense of community among the authors... I was thrilled to say the least. At first it was something of a maelstrom. My first read was The Time We Had, by Dusty. Not a sci-fi fan, remember? But I kind of liked time travel, so I tried. Can say I was enchanted but mostly confused, and then, whamo! It was a WIP! WTF? Then the March drabble event kicked in and I gleefully joined the daily crazy spinning of that carousel!

Anyway, long story short, after nearly drowning in a whirlpool of long and short completed or WIP stories and trying out every genre (I had never read any smut, and was quite taken aback! though not unpleasantly...), figuring out the acronyms (most of them, anyway), the frequency of updates, I managed to whittle my appetite down to what I pretty much knew I was going to like, what parts of the show I needed to have "fixed" (because yes, to me BtVS as is, is pure genius, and part of that is the absolute NEVER a happy ending for anyone, ever, and that is pure frustration, which is part and parcel of, well, life... so thank you you talented writers, for mitigating the inherent frustration of life), how to pace myself in the reading, etc.  It's been quite a ride :).

Why do you love Spike and Buffy?

Well, first it was Spike (see above). I was running around feeling like a teenager in love with a fictional character. Geez. That had never happened to me. I was totally Spike POV and was angry at Buffy. On the rewatches, though, I began to be able to put myself in her shoes too. And bam! Their story crystallized in the form of one of the truly Great Love Tragedies—The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, The Tragedy of Tristan and Isolde, The Tragedy of Bérénice and Titus (Racine), The Tragedy of Spike and Buffy. They may be characters in a pop-culture TV show, but to me they are way up there among the Greats, in how they materialize, in a sense, the impossibility of absolute love. They trigger a lot of thinking on the power of love (I'm from the peace-and-love generation, Love has been the only form of power I have mostly managed to wield in this life, and by now I know it's not enough. Essential, but not enough). Not to mention that Spike personifies unconditional love, and devotion, with and without a soul. Also, Taoism has been a great help to me in the often hard task of living. Buffy and Spike, to me, are like the Yin Yang circle of life; she is the light with a permanent spot of darkness, and he is the darkness with a permanent spot of light. Without both, there is no life. I was a Philosophy student way back then, and that never stops, somehow. Oh, and did I mention that I'm in love with Spike? And Spike would not be Spike in all his depth without his love object, which can onlybe Buffy. Voilà.

What words of advice would you give other fans who comment or are considering maybe commenting on fanfiction?

Just do it. You have a legion of authors of all ages, all degrees of experience, living in different parts of the world, in the midst of their very busy or not-that-busy part of their respective lives, simply giving you the fruits of their talent, creativity, and imagination! If you're an avid reader, you know books are expensive. And all of this is yours for free. Now, you also know that when you've "created" something, anything (could be a fancy meal) your reward is for those to whom you've offered it to tell you that they liked it, and even better, how they liked it. So do it. 

At first, I was just "liking," Facebook style. Sometimes adding a this-made-me-feel statement. I read others' comments, and was a little intimidated. Mostly they seemed to come from other authors (I later found that was not always true), and how could I be up to such standards! Not a writer, here! Just a reader! I soon overcame that obstacle and just went ahead, in the above-mentioned diving fashion. It is, for me, the best way to show my appreciation. I'll write all kinds of comments, depending on the time of day, on whether I'm reading on my phone or on my computer, how much time I have, and many other factors. Sometimes I wonder if what I write makes any sense. It can be a description of my emotions, I could be zooming in on the effulgence of the writing, could be wondering about what's actually happened and what will happen next. Don't feel there is any particular "format" for commenting. Write what comes naturally. I actually always read others' comments, which are fascinating, and also useful because some commenters actually help to get a "previously on" for WIPs that you don't remember well since their last installment—Magnus comes to mind: thank you, Sir! Many authors respond to your comments (don't forget to set your notifications for those), which is totally wonderful, and sometimes delightful conversations ensue. Some authors do not appear to respond to the comments, but I will provide comments anyway, because I assume other readers must also, like me, read the comments too, whether or not the author has responded. I also have a bunch of stories set aside with a "review!" injunction tagged to them because I hadn't had time to comment when I'd read them and really wanted to. I will. Maybe. Eventually. Hopefully.

So comments all around, everybody, and yeah, just do it.

From Maggie:

As a commenter myself, I like receiving responses to my comments and/or seeing in the author notes that authors are happy to receive feedback. Do you have a favourite kind of interaction with authors, in this sense?

Of course, I love to receive responses to my comments. It's kind of like the beginning of a distance relationship ;), and in any case makes the authors a lot more real to me and gives me some insight into what fuels them to offer their creative work so generously, which remains something of a mystery to me. So that is definitely my favorite kind of interaction. I always read the author notes, which may very well inspire me to give some feedback even if my time is short when I'm done reading. In fact, I sometimes respond to the author notes instead of to the story! I am particulary impressed that beyond the time the authors carve out of their real life to write, they also take time to respond, even if it's just a "Thank you!"

Again, though, even if there is no response from the author, which I totally understand (see above, not enough extra time, or maybe even they might have taken a break from fanfic... I sometimes read stories that were written quite a while back and anything is possible), that will not necessarily keep me from commenting, because I may not be the only person who also reads pretty much all the comments attached to a story. There are many factors that will determine whether or not I comment, but I never, ever force myself to do so.

Do you have a favourite kind of genre/category of fic to comment on, and why?

That's an interesting question. But I have no real answer to it. I do have genre/category preferences to read, so those will be more likely to inspire me to "say something"... sometimes anything, really. I could possibly be "categorized" as a canon-nut. I'm still mesmerized by Whedon's genius (and that's unlikely to change)--which included putting together outstanding actors, writers, and crew members--but obviously, if I'm here, it's because I need more, or simply need things to turn out differently. I believe I've tried out all the available genres and categories, to find that for instance, Horror is not my cup of tea, so (in that one experimental instance), that's all I was able to say, all the while impressed with the talent involved in the writing of it. Discovering the wealth of genres and categories has been quite a ride! Back to canon, though, since I will never read the comics but I'm still very post-series curious, my comments will probably involve questions (did this really happen or is this you making it happen?). Dunno. I'm really kind of a haphazard commenter :).

I’ve seen from your bio that you’ve discovered this fandom (and Spike!! Same on the falling madly in love with him!) recently, and that it makes you feel young. I love that! Do you want to tell us more about that side of your fanfic experience?

This is almost an embarrassing question, innit? Having a humongous, all-encompassing, mad, teenage-type crush on Spike at my age was a complete shocker to me. I did not resist it, though. On the contrary. That crush energy is so good and delightful. Also, it was a first, because even as a pre-teen, the objects of my fantasy crushes were real people (singers, or actors--not the characters they may have played), unattainable but real. Then as I grew older, said objects became attainable real people, not necessarily attained but attainable. The fact that Spike was a fictional character made the attainability factor disappear. So no holds barred, and nothing to expect ergo no heartbreak or disappointment on the horizon. No pain, all pleasure. Does that make sense?

Giving it some deeper thought and consideration, though, and if I really must pinpoint what makes me feel young, particulary in the fanfic I've discovered, I can safely say that it's given me a place in my imagination to rekindle my, ahem, long-expired-in-real-life sex drive, a.k.a. Eros, a.k.a. the life drive, which, I have to say, is a great asset in the very latter part of the life cycle, which is basically where I am now. Having, I might add, fully taken advantage of the life drive in the part of my life when it could be fulfilled, so no regrets.This is just an unexpected bonus, and is adding enjoyment to my life overall. Powerful stuff, you witchy, talented writers!

And okay, the age regression can materialize in the fact that I sometimes imagine that the pillow I'm hugging when I'm falling asleep is... Spike's sexy-and-also-comforting chest, which I read so much about in fanfic. I can almost feel his arm around me as I'm drifting into dreamland. 

I hope anyone who's reading this is laughing. I am!

Author of the Month for July 2023, MaggieLeFay

How did you come to watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer?

I’ve never been a fan of vampires (I’m still not, with the exception of the BtVS ones haha), and I had a bit of internalised misogyny back then, so whenever I encountered mention of Buffy online, my first reaction was “A blonde girl killing vampires? Noo thank you”. (Yes, I was that obnoxious. I apologise to the world for my past self.)

But then I watched Firefly by Joss Whedon, and fell in LOVE. Back then I still used facebook (it was 2015!), so when the same nerdy page that raved about Firefly kept sharing Buffy posts… I had to give it a chance.

And then I fell in love again! This time much, much more long-term.

When and why did you decide to write fanfiction for the show?

My memory isn’t the best, so I honestly don’t remember a precise moment, or a precise reasoning behind it. I just know that at some point I started imagining a post-series reunion, and slowly but surely I started writing more and more of it, until it was done! It was incredibly exciting for me, because while it wasn’t my first-ever fanfiction, it was my first-ever in English (not my native language) and definitely my first-ever LONG story. Before writing that I genuinely did not think I’d be capable of writing a story longer than 2-3 chapters and finish it. It was amazing!

Why do you love Spike and Buffy?

The very first reason is that they make me laugh. I’m not the greatest fan of the bad boy trope in general, but Spike worked so well for me because he was ridiculous so often. Absolutely NO shade to anyone who loves the trope through and through, but my favourite thing about arrogant characters is when they’re ridiculed, so the fact that he was fun and hot AND that at some point he became comic relief, too, was part of the charm for me! And then, the writers kept giving him real feelings, passion, development, and real growth… all that mixed with the fun made such a powerful mix that I’m still smitten haha.

And Buffy, of course, is absolutely hilarious too. Her language is one of the very first things I fell in love with! As I mentioned, I used to have a bit of internalised misogyny, so some of her more feminine-coded characteristics made it harder for me to like her at the start. But I am so glad I grew out of that, and through rewatching the series I’ve fallen in love with her, too.

I love the two of them together so much because I find them brilliant. I didn’t like the s6 sex era because I don’t like seeing characters I love hurting each other like that, but the rest of their story is just, beautifully captivating. And the ending, with Spike’s sacrifice and the fact that they weren’t back together, has made me thirsty for more, so here we still are!

Which three fanfics that you’ve written are your favorite? Why are they your favorite?

This is not super easy to answer! But I’m gonna go with:

The (Demon) Parent Trap: this one is the first one that came to mind, even though when I started it I didn’t like it. But it is so full of banter and UST and flirting and tenderness and shameless fun, basically everything I’m looking for these days in fics haha. (Well, there’s smut too, but I haven’t written that yet!)

Wrong Place, Perfect Time: I have fallen so in love with these characters, it’s almost stupid! This is also full of banter and fun, and when I was writing this story I was really starting to try and be more realistic with my writing (of course, not always managing that!), and I love the result of that effort.

The Blue Eye of the Storm: I consider this story far (faaar) from perfect, but it’s my second long story that I’ve finished, and I’ve learnt soo much about writing while doing so (THANK YOU BOOKISHY!!). I remember writing it so consistently, and for so long, and being worried about it being too basic and not entertaining enough… but in the end, it’s just as slow and tender as I wanted it to be, so I love it for what it is.

What words of advice would you give other fans who write or want to write fanfiction?

Try! And if the SAD drabble event taught us anything, maybe try with drabbles. ;) They’re so much fun, and the word count limit can be helpful, when you’re not sure you could write a long story!

The other big advice I’d give is to fantasise. Not all writers do it this way (fantasise about the story first, write it after), some want to discover the story as they’re writing. That sounds like magic to me! But personally, fantasising a lot about a certain story makes me want to tell it.

Last but not least: if you can, find a beta. Someone who can help you out and join you on the journey as they help you write your story the way you want to tell it. Try to be as clear as you can with what you’re looking for in this relationship, and go for it!

Is there a particular Spuffy moment from the show that you go back and rewatch for inspiration in your writing?

Ah, I hope you won’t retract my Spuffy fan card for this but I don’t really rewatch the show anymore haha. But the Spuffy moments that might have inspired me the most are probably the Fool For Love slayer-killing speech (with all those amazing Spike flashbacks!), the Intervention kiss (after Glory’s torture), the conversation between them in Never Leave Me (after the First has triggered Spike to kill people) and the Touched speech (after the Scoobies send Buffy away in s7). I think it’s these scenes because here I can really see the best in their character development, and the way he and Buffy can actually be so incredibly good for each other, if given the chance.

From Marina: 

I've noticed that you sometimes write in the All Human category. To me, it's hard to imagine Spuffy without Spike's status as a vampire. What is it that pulls you in the All Human direction?

You know, I think there’s several factors! The first thing that really matters is probably inspiration. The AH stories I’ve written so far are all part of the same “universe”, and my inspiration for the very first story in this collection was quite casual (a podcast that has nothing to do with Buffy, ‘Welcome to Night Vale’). From there, I kept going back to this version of the characters… and I fell in love with them. 

The other big factor is that AH versions of Spuffy, while usually a bit further from the original characters, can still retain some chore Spuffy characteristics that I enjoy a TON. To me, what truly matters is that I can enjoy a fic’s version of these characters, whatever that may be.

Plus, it might also help that I’m not a fan of vampires in general. I’m a fan of and love these vampires, and these characters, but I love them even as flawed and complex human beings with no supernatural elements added to them.

There's also a fair amount of your work in the Erotica, Porn with or without Plot, etc. genre. If it's not too personal, can you elaborate on your source of inspiration?

Oh, I love this question haha. I think there are two versions of my answer, the short and long one.

Short version: I am rather horny, plus I’m a bit of a nerd about sex. ;)

The long version is that, aside from my own (pretty compelling) imagination, I actually have plenty of sources of inspiration when it comes to smut scenes. First of all, other fics! Fics have taught me so much about my interests, my curiosity, my kinks, and all the things that aren’t for me but that I still find fascinating.

Then there’s my nerdiness. When I say I’m a bit of a nerd about sex, I mean that I love love love learning about it. All of it! Psychology, relationships, physiology, sex toys, kink and sex (kink and no sex, too!), how things can be done, how they can go wrong, communication, bodies, connection, mistakes, improvements… I find everything about sex endlessly fascinating. I realise that for many people, it’s better to have sex than to learn about sex, but honestly I’m equally interested in both (if not more in learning about it, if I’m honest!).

So, this nerdiness is a HUGE fountain of ideas when it comes to smut scenes. I read fics with smut, read straight-up erotica, watch educational videos on these topics, listen to podcasts, read articles, and all these things give me ideas and make me think, What if Spike and Buffy did that? What if they tried this act/kink/position, but did it differently in X and Y ways? And then, well, I want to write about it.

I could honestly go on and on about this, so thank you for this question!

We have new Scoobies of the Month Interviews! A huge apology for the delay on my end in posting these...RL has been a bear this month. 

Commenter of the Month for June 2023, Gabby

How did you come to watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer?

I first started watching Buffy when I was 12 or 13 (if anyone is wildly curious I'm 30 now). The show would be on before school so I have very vivid memories of like, random S1 and S2 episodes and daydreaming while in class (oops) about fighting vamps alongside Buffy. I also watched it a ton during high school and the first few years of college, but only focused on S5-S7 for reasons that are not hard to guess. I had no recollection of S3 or S4 whatsoever (sorry Faith, Riley, Maggie, and Adam, love u <3). 

And then I quite literally forgot about the show for like a decade! Didn't watch it, didn't even think about the characters, even though it's tied with Gilmore Girls for my favorite show of all time - it was like it just didn't exist. Then on a whim I jumped into S6 in 2021 during the pandemic, followed that up by rewatching the whole show several times (bizarrely, this was the first time I had ever watched Buffy in linear fashion from episode 1 through 144), and haven't looked back since.

When and why did you decide to read fanfiction for the show?

In 2021 when I got back into the show! I'd never read any fic before for any fandom, but BtVS and this couple in particular just compel me in a way no other show or couple does. That's not to say there aren't other pairings that I enjoy! Spike and Dru are the goth vampire couple of my dreams, and I'm actually a huge fan of Angel and Cordelia. Even though I'm sure I'm missing out on incredible work by super talented authors for other couples, my fic reading habits basically revolve around Spike and Buffy.  

And I decided to dive into fanfic because I wanted to see more of this duo. I'm just never completely satisfied with what we got on the show (see question #5) and since I'm not a comics person the only other place for me to turn to is fanfiction. But luckily new authors are joining the fandom every day even though the show ended 20 years ago, so hopefully I'll never run out of new material for our favorite couple!

Why do you love Spike and Buffy?

Buffy and Spike are perfect for each other, in this essay I will

Okay but for real, I just think they complement each other SO WELL. They're both excellent fighters so they make a great team in battle. Buffy has a tendency to get a little too serious and Spike's great at injecting some levity into her life. Their banter is top tier. They're brutally honest with each other even as their support never wavers. Buffy inspiring Spike to better himself and get a soul and his speech to her in Touched prove that they bring out the best in each other. BUT they both also see the darkness in each other and in themselves, and rather than run away from it they embrace that aspect of their natures and are whole together. In conclusion, their relationship has it all.   

As for each of them separately, I mean…Buffy's so strong and brave but also kind and selfless and is funny and smarter than she gets credit for. She's a hero, you see! She's not like us. And Spike is endlessly fascinating to me. There's so much depth to him. He's an evil vampire who's killed thousands but loves his girlfriend and his mom. He's impulsive. He's emotionally intelligent. He's charming. He's rude. He likes soap operas and Manchester United and the Ramones. There are so many layers to this man he's practically an onion, and it makes him one of the best characters of all time imo.

What words of advice would you give other fans who comment or are considering maybe commenting on fanfiction?

Like a lot of people I was just a lurker at first. I'm extremely outgoing in real life but am a shy little lamb on the internet, which is kind of funny because it's usually the opposite right? I think it's because whatever you say on the internet is more or less permanent and public, and it's easier to misinterpret because there's no way to read tone or facial expressions, and I'm constantly worried about saying the wrong thing or offending someone. Plus, I don't think my thoughts are particularly clever or insightful so like, who cares what I have to say? In any case, those fears and insecurities held me back for a while. But I eventually reached a point where I was like, these authors put so much time and energy into their stories FOR FREE, and deserve to be showered in love and appreciation and have people engage with their work even if they find what I personally have to say uninteresting or long-winded. 

All that is to say, if you're considering commenting but have misgivings, maybe it'll help if you think about how it'll make an author's day for you to drop a note, whether it's just an emoji or straight up essay, so that they know they aren't just shouting into the void. They put in so much work for us, we can absolutely return the favor! I also think it's best to stay positive. If I come across something I'm not a fan of or disagree with I just don't mention it, or couch it in a compliment sandwich if I do. We're all about the love here.

From LJ94:

What’s your favorite genre of fic? Are there any tropes you never get tired of reading?

I'm a huge fan of the established relationship genre. I feel like we saw plenty of Buffy and Spike in a tumultuous relationship on the show, so I'm just always desperate to see what a healthy relationship between them looks like. How do they talk through their issues? What are their dates like? Who is doing the dishes between all the apocalypses? Getting them together is always fun, but I wanna see them actually work through the trials and tribulations of a long term relationship. Established Spike and Buffy in a drama or comedy is my go to. And I have a thing for reunion fics. It's what naturally follows after the end of AtS for me, and I just wish we could have SEEN that. Sigh, alas.

Relatedly, what might inspire you to read a fic outside of your usual repertoire?

If I trust the author! For example, I'm not a huge fan of baby/kid fics just because I feel like those have a tendency to get too sappy and I need my Spike/Buffy to be snarky, but Dusty is a literal queen so I took a chance on her But Baby and loved it. I also don't read a lot of all human fics because part of the appeal for me is the vampire/vampire slayer dynamic, but because Maggie is another brilliant Spike/Buffy author I read her The Lawyer/Cop Files a while back and was so glad I did - it's incredible! And Violetta just started a feral!Spike story which is another trope I haven't dabbled in too much, but I'll read anything she blesses us with.

Thank you SO much to whoever nominated me! This was fun, and I'm very glad to be a part of this community even in my own small way.  

Author of the Month for June 2023, LJ94

How did you come to watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer?

So, this is a bit of a funny story.

I had this weird period in high school where I would watch TV shows based solely on the DVD box cover. Sometimes I’d read the description on the back, sometimes I wouldn’t. I had just finished FarScape, and the cover of Angel caught my eye. I had literally never heard of the show before, and went into it totally blind.

Let me tell you: jumping into S1 of AtS with zero context of Buffy, or that this even was a spin-off in the first place, was confusing as all get-out. I spent the first two or three episodes convinced we were going to get flashbacks that gave us some backstory about this girl Angel kept pining about, and how the hell he knew this Cordelia chick who he seemed to have nothing in common with, but only getting increasingly confused. I eventually caved and used the power of the internet to deduce that there were a whole three seasons of a completely different show that preceded this. I HAD heard of BtVS before, I’d just always thought it sounded silly so I’d never given it a shot. But now I was intrigued, and the Buffyverse had me in its clutches. I put my Angel watch on hold, watched the whole of Buffy, and the moment I finished “Chosen”, I watched the whole thing again. Now it’s been over a decade, and it remains my favorite show.

When and why did you decide to write fanfiction for the show?

I’ve always been a writer! I used to take creative writing classes, I have thirteen journals dating back to 2015 in my closet, and several unpublished novels on my hard drive. But I didn’t start writing Buffy fanfic until a few months ago. I was on my 7th full rewatch of the show along with my roommate who was watching for the first time, and I was inspired to read some fic. Combine that with the fact that I now have a job that allows me enough free time to get back into writing – the fanfic writing was basically inevitable!

Why do you love Spike and Buffy?

I love Spike and Buffy for the same reason I love most of the characters on this show; they’re flawed. Everyone is imperfect, nothing is black and white, sometimes the ‘heroes’ act like villains and the ‘villains’ act like heroes. I love that. I also love how both of them change and grow so much over the course of the show, and how a lot of that is through their relationship with each other.

I will admit, Buffy herself took some time to grow on me. I haven’t exactly been a teenage girl and find it pretty hard to relate to her in earlier seasons. I didn’t actually come around to connecting with her until S6 – her mental health struggles resembled some stuff I was going through when I first watched the show and I finally felt like I understood her.

Which three fanfics that you’ve written are your favorite? Why are they your favorite?

So, I only have five Spuffy fics under my belt at the moment (although my brain is always bouncing with ideas). But for now I’d say:

A little more time – It was the second story I wrote for the fandom, and despite being just over 3000 words apparently it made a lot of people cry. It’s a post-Chosen fic – Buffy grieves Spike, and talks to some headstones.

Amateur Night – This was the first story I wrote with a friend / beta (the wonderful Tessa!) and that was super fun. It was also my first crack at anything remotely smutty, and my first illustrated story! So, a lot of firsts, combined with the fact that its just a really fun romp, makes this one an easy fave.

Dawn the Vampire Slayer – My current WIP. I’m incredibly proud of this one for plot reasons. Not only is it a non-linear story, but it also features a Wishverse that posed a really fun challenge to construct. Basically, Dawn wishes she was the slayer, and I challenged myself to go through canon and write flashbacks that ONLY make changes that would result from this one difference.

What words of advice would you give other fans who write or want to write fanfiction?

I think one of my favorite tricks since I’ve started a multi-chapter is to have a few chapters ahead pre-written. If you’re like me, and you feel pressure to post consistently but your life isn’t exactly consistent, it can alleviate a lot of stress! So if life decides to screw you over for a week or two, you still have something to post, and when you find time to get back to writing it can just be fun.

And I think my second piece of advice is that if a chapter or a section feels like a slog to write, there’s a chance it might be a slog to read. Step back, figure out whether its actually writer’s block or the scene just isn’t working. My favorite trick for getting past this is to swap perspectives, or jump right into the middle of a scene if I’m struggling to start it.

From Gabby:

What's your writing process like? Do you have everything planned out ahead of time or do you just wing it?

I’m a big ol planner XD. Mostly because I love foreshadowing and recurring themes and that kind of calls for foresight! For my current WIP I had pages and pages of planning for all 22 chapters before I even started writing, because there’s mystery I want to build up to and timeline shenanigans I want to get right. That being said, sometimes things come up organically, and I can’t say no to where the fic wants to go!

I also have a bit of a strange writing process in that I don’t write linearly. I’ll write a few paragraphs of one chapter, then a bunch of a another.

How do you stay inspired/deal with writer's block? I imagine there are times when words just pour out of you and times when writing is like pulling teeth!

The non-linear writing helps! Like if I’m stuck on a chapter or a scene, I’ll just hop to another part of the story, and that sometimes helps to get the juices flowing for the part I was struggling with. Also if I’m bored I’ll also sometimes change POV, or tell something with a flashback instead of exposition, because that helps keep writing new and exciting. I tend to be of the mindset that if it feels like pulling teeth, there’s something wrong with the scene, so I usually stop and give it a total overhaul.

Are there any characters/genres/concepts you haven't gotten to yet that you'd still like to explore?

Hmmmm, so as I said, I’ve only been writing Buffy fanfic for a few months now, so there’s a lot I haven’t gotten to yet. I will say I’ve always wanted to write a Hell’s Bell’s rewrite, because that episode GUTS me, and I already have a few ideas. I want to save that wedding gosh darnit!

As for characters, I’ve actually written almost everyone from the main cast. Love me an ensemble fic, the group dynamic is one of my favorite things about the show. I definitely want to write more Cordy and Spike friendship - I think we were robbed that they barely overlapped on both AtS and Buffy, because their banter would have been legendary.

Hello beautiful After Darker people,

We are working on a little celebration for Sunnydale After Dark’s 1 year anniversary, which is only two weeks away!!

The lovely and creative Dynamite and Dirtyaim are putting together something very special to help us celebrate. This project will showcase all the artists of this community who make a submission, but they need your help!

We’re asking anyone who would like to contribute to submit 1-5 pieces of new or old Spuffy artwork, manipulations, and/or banners they’ve created and love the most to this Imgur account. To upload, you will need to login with the username SunnydaleAfterDark1YearCelebration and the password SADart2023. Make sure you name your images (either in the title or caption) with your artist penname so that you can be credited for your contribution.

If you encounter any difficulty with Imgur, you’re also welcome to email images to Dynamite at pass.the.dynamite.molly96@gmail.com.

Please submit all artwork no later than June 16! Thank you, all!

Greetings, Spuffy lovers!

June approaches! Can you believe it? We cannot. Because June means one whole year of Sunnydale After Dark!! We are so thrilled to celebrate our one year anniversary with you all, but to do it properly, we are going to need your help!

See, this community was founded with the goal of being inclusive. Every reader, writer, and artist matters. Everyone gets to share their voice and every voice is important. It’s what makes this place so great. It truly feels community-led, community-inspired, community-grown.

Which is why we hope you'll love our next event

In honor of collaboration, our next event will be a round robin style writing event. There will be multiple stories written a chapter at a time by different teams of writers.

Here’s the plan! 

Fill out this form where you will indicate what genre of story you are most interested in writing. The SADmins will do our best to put everyone on the right team to have the most fun and tell the best stories possible! 

After we’ve got our teams in place, the SADmins will share contact information and preferences amongst team members. You and your team members can use the communication method of your choice, and if you like, we can create a private Discord channel for your team to use to collaborate.

As a team you can decide how and to what extent you'd like to collaborate on planning your story. Your team may choose not to plan at all and surprise even each other or you may choose to have a rough outline! It’s completely up to you. 

An important note: each writer will maintain creative control over the chapter they're writing. 

Remember the goal is to have fun and celebrate the community! Nobody should ever dictate what other people do with their own contribution. Please contact an admin if there are any issues with the group dynamic. We’re always here to help!

Each team member will have one week to write and to post their chapter. Writing order will be decided upon by the teams themselves. 

Here’s the timeline:

Submit Interest Form by June 1.
Teams will be announced June 5.
Teams post their first chapter on June 23 (Sunnydale After Dark’s official anniversary!).

All dates are according to site time, which can be found beneath the chat box.

Naturally, when this event ends will depend upon how many people sign up! The story should be completed after each team member has contributed one chapter. Teams who may want to continue their story are welcome to do so with a sequel fic, but for this event we’d like only one chapter per author.

Artists, please note that there is a section in the Interest Form for you to indicate interest in contributing banners and/or illustrative artwork for these collaborative fics. You can sign up to write, to make art, or both! How artists contribute to the story will be left up to each team and artist to decide.

Commenters, anyone who comments on all SAD-iversary fics at least once with a comment of fifteen words or more will receive an award.

Betas, anyone who betas a SAD-iversary chapter will receive a beta award. Writers will need to credit their betas in their chapter notes in order for us to give this award.

We know you’ll have questions and we look forward to answering them, so bring 'em on! Here’s to an exciting summer of reading and writing!

PS, join us on Facebook to vote for the official event title!

Hello, After Dark-ers!

We wanted to share with everyone that we’ve officially added a new member to the SADmin team. Everyone say hi, hello, and welcome to GetItDone!

You may recognize GetItDone from her delightful fic comments! But GetItDone has also been working quietly in the background of SAD for a long time now. She was one of the beta testers who helped us work out problem spots before the site even launched. She has helped many authors on this site with the labor of uploading their fic libraries to the archive. She's helped D'Hoffryn troubleshoot tech issues. She even coordinated the White Elephant prompt exchange for us and introduced us to the beloved Wheel on Discord! For this we will always be grateful

Needless to say, we know she’ll be a wonderful asset to the site and the community because she already has been! Big thanks to her for joining the team and helping us get all the things done. And big thanks as always to everyone here for being so immensely supportive. Lots and lots of love to you all!

Hello, friends!

A few months ago, you may remember we introduced our Fandom Links page. A resource we knew we wanted on that page was episode transcripts, which can be such a valuable tool, especially for fic writers. We reached out to this community and we hunted on our own, searching for a great transcript page to refer our members to, but we never found one that checked all our boxes.

So why not build our own?

Visit our new Transcript Library!

This was a fairly ambitious undertaking— probably more ambitious than we realized at the time! A lot of incredible fans of the show have worked hard to transcribe these episodes, but the formatting was all different. Some transcripts were full of holes. The sites were dated, some only accessible through the Wayback Machine! 

There was a lot to sort through to say the least.

What we have now, though, is a searchable transcript library, which can be filtered by Buffy or Angel episodes. You can search a specific line of dialogue if you’re not sure what episode it’s in. You can search a character’s name and see every episode in which it appears. Find out how many times the phrase “sod off” was used. The possibilities are endless!

The transcripts won’t be absolutely perfect. It was a tedious process combing through them. So if you do find any glaring errors in them, please let us know so we can correct them! 

We’ve used a mix of source transcripts for these, sources which we found in so many different places credited to so many different transcribers that we aren’t entirely sure who made what and how to thank them for their selfless transcribing, but thank them we do. 

And, of course, we thank our resident techromancer, D’Hoffryn, who makes all our website dreams come true.

We hope you find this new site tool helpful! If you have any ideas of your own for fic writing tools and resources we could provide, be sure to let us know!

Lots of love from the SADmins,

Hello, After Darkers!

Now that we’ve cleared out all those pesky evil lawyers, we wanted to thank everyone for the unbelievable level of enthusiasm and participation for the Short and Spuffy event. Blown away doesn’t begin to describe how we feel about the past month.

Here are some fun-filled drabbly facts!

30 authors wrote a total of 36 Short and Spuffy stories.

Those stories consisted of 1013 drabbles.

4 authors submitted their very first story to Sunnydale After Dark for this event.

81 new members joined the archive during this event.

84 members left comments on the Short and Spuffy stories for a grand total of 17,932 comments. Those comments were only for the drabble event fics!

It’s safe to say we had a blast! En masse!

And because we promised the lovely and vocal Discord users who joined us every night for wheel spinning prompt-choosing time, we will now reveal which admins are responsible for the agony, er um the inspiration of each prompt:

sandy_s’s Drabble Prompts

• Drowning
• Boxes on a shelf
• Scent
• Attainathon
• Blue and green
• Kitten
• Side by side
• Sacrifice
• Indirect sunlight
• The French Quarter

Dusty’s Drabble Prompts

• The lies you told
• Crashing
• Pretty chains
• Make a choice
• Lost
• Message to the moon
• I think I love you
• The clock stops
• A little clue
• Tempt me

Chelle’s Drabble Prompts

• Pain
• Joy
• Making up
• Loving you is easy
• Should we break up?
• Too much damn drama!
• Angst is my oxygen
• Hurt and Comfort
• Too quiet
• Just let it all hang out

You can officially lower your pitchforks now. The drabbles turned out amazing!! And really isn’t that what matters?

We’ll also confess our April Fools Day roles while we're at it: sandy_s played the part of Buffy, Dusty played the part of Angel, and Chelle played the part of Spike, which surely surprises no one.

Who knows if these guys may grace the archive with a return one day...

All authors, artists, and commenters should have the appropriate awards (and there were a lot of ‘em!) in their profile now. If you feel you are missing one you should have earned, please contact us so we can sort it out!

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you thank you for helping this place thrive and uplift.

We love you all.

The law offices of Wolfram & Hart seek to remind the users of the Sunnydale After Dark fanfiction archive that any and all participation in this site’s defamatory and slanderous activities will be considered affiliation with the site itself. 

This includes:

• Reading illicit and/or defamatory content
• Distributing “cookies” of any kind
• Commenting on Sunnydale Press correspondence
• Conspiring in the “Scooby” Chat Box
• Posting additional fictional content

The following members have already been flagged for demonstrating significant culpability for one or more of these crimes:

Spike
Buffy
ClowniestLivEver
Hannora
Grief Counseling
loveisntbrains
PuckRobin
Magnus374
bruskiboo
Dusty
Slaymesoftly
Girlytek
VeroNyxK84
Teuntje
honeygirl51885
Pet35
D’Hoffryn
MaggieLeFay
violettathepiratequeen
HerselfNYC
TheUnexceptionableQuinn
Tiny Tabby
GetItDone
sandy_s
scratchmeout
Darla
Lady Emma
Chelle
Stephaniem191
VioletMoon
Passion4Spike

This list is but a fraction of today’s offenders. Punitive actions will be taken for those who are deemed guilty in a court of law, possibly a demonic court of law. The particular court and dimension of ethical and legal standards will be determined at a later date. 

Please see previous letter for details of potential consequences for continued participation. 

For now, this is your final warning. 

Cease and desist.

Hi, y'all! Here are the Scoobies of the Month interviews for March 2023! Hope you enjoy reading them...

Commenter of the Month for March 2023, Dusty:

How did you come to watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer?

Through a podcast I listened to a long time ago! The podcasters were actually studying and dissecting Outlander, which I loved fervently. They were starting a new podcast about Buffy and I had enjoyed their analysis and trusted their judgment on what was good so much that I hopped over and started watching the show and listening to their episodes. Very quickly I couldn’t wait a whole week to watch along with them and blasted through Buffy. This was around 2015, so I was pretty late to the Buffy party.

When and why did you decide to read fanfiction for the show?

At some point, I discovered that there were canonical comics continuing the series! Hallelujah! I borrowed those from my library and diligently read them up til season 11, which was current at the time. S11 had so much Spuffy and I just adored the thought of them holed up in that camp together, going through something dark trying but being a solid COUPLE. I used to write fanfiction for another show (The Pretender) and so I knew what it was and thought “oh I bet people have written all sorts of stories in this fun setting! I mean, he’s BITING her!! How thrilling!” It brought me into the world, but it turned out, I couldn’t find the story I was looking for! So I worked up my nerve and began writing what I envisioned myself. So really, I started reading and writing almost simultaneously because of that. 

Why do you love Spike and Buffy?

Oh boy. Well. Because they are formidable. I am a big believer that the most satisfying relationships are ones in which people really contend with each other and challenge each other to be better. It’s that old saying about throwing two rocks in a bag and they will scrape and knock against each other until they both come out polished and shining. Is that a saying? Pressure turns coal into diamonds? Something like that! Metaphorically! I just love how they challenge each other and they’re so honest and they don’t hold back because they’re strong enough to do that. They’re hilarious but also passionate. And something about them not getting a real coupley run on the show makes it all the more satisfying to read it in fic.

What words of advice would you give other fans who comment or are considering maybe commenting on fanfiction?

Just do it! You may feel your six words of encouragement are nothing or not good enough to bother sharing, but those six words actually mean a lot. As an author, I sometimes get comments apologizing for the “ramble” but that’s silly, too! Every word from 1-100 (or 1000, ahem GetItDone) means a ton to authors and comments are like little thank yous for writing. Sometimes just leaving a hilarious GIF will brighten someone’s day. It really doesn’t take much. And if a line or a word they used really stood out to you, share that! Authors love knowing what resonated. 

From honeygirl51885:

Did you start commenting on stories as soon as you entered the world of fanfic, or were you a lurker to start?  If a lurker, what made you write your first comment?

I did lurk a little at first! But not for very long because I have THOUGHTS to share! So I can’t remember exactly what drove me to make those first few comments, but I remember they were on Sigyn’s stories, so it was probably that I felt some sort of visceral feeling (since she’s so good at that!) from whatever she was writing at the time. It’s usually a powerful emotion or beautiful writing that inspires me to really ramble at an author and share my thoughts!

As someone who gives and gets comments, what is your favorite type of comment to write (i.e. general praise for the story, listing favorite lines, starting up conversations with the author, etc.)?

I feel like I try to do a little bit of both! If a line jumps out at me as being particularly amazing, I do tend to quote that and tell the author how much I loved it. I started doing that when I realized how much I enjoyed seeing what lines my own readers were responding to. It is fun to ask the author questions, but also I don’t want the story spoiled so I feel like I don’t do that as much. I just try to share my enthusiasm for whatever comes next, whatever that may be. And I try not to comment with or impose my vision of what I THINK should come next so that the author doesn’t feel pressure or guilt when they know it’s not gonna go that way.

Has a comment ever made you make changes to your story?

Ha. Ohhhh, you asked the wrong author this question… or maybe just the right one! ;)

In minor ways, yes! For example, in The Fairytale I had Dawn playing the role of Rapunzel (long, silly explanation goes here) and a brilliant commenter called her Radawnzel and I thought that was hilarious and had the characters do that from then on out. Other commenters joked so much about wanting a Spuffel threesome fic that I eventually just wrote Embers because of it! So I do listen and get infected by commenter ideas.

It’s when the comments are negative that it gets tricky. Only you as the author know where the story is truly going, so you have to consider that when comments are inadvertently (or not inadvertently) pressuring you down another path. Be strong! I know personally I get a really defiant “dig my heels in” kind of feeling when my choices are being questioned. I get the urge to prove myself and that’s not always good because I know I’ve overcorrected, too. Sometimes I’ll want the readers to have a certain reaction like “be mad at Spike! He’s doing something wrong here!” and when it feels like everyone’s okay with it or forgiving him too easily because we love him so much, I will just want to push things further until they’re in the emotional place I want them to be. Which is maybe not always pure to the story or what should happen! But it’s hard not to do.

So while I don’t think I’ve ever made major changes because of comments on my stories, I have felt the pressure of them and their expectations. I have worried that I’ll disappoint people. And I think the worst thing that ever comes of that is it makes me sometimes rush through what I know I want to do (which then doesn’t do the moment justice) because I’m just tired of fielding backlash and am ready to move onto something else that’s more fun. Luckily, these instances are definitely the exception and this community is so supportive overall. I cannot complain. I only share the negative experience to illustrate how powerful a comment can be and how those little criticisms can slither into authors’ brains and grow big trees of doubt. Um. Just go with the mixed metaphor there and remember to be kind with your comments. That’s all I’m trying to say!

Author of the Month for March 2023, honeygirl51885:

How did you come to watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer?

I discovered Buffy while the end of season five was airing. They were showing reruns on another station and my mom and I binged seasons 1-5 that summer. I then tuned in for seasons six and seven as they aired. I became obsessed that summer in between seasons five and six. I read episode recaps and info. on BuffyGuide so I’d be completely prepared for anything that could possibly happen when season six aired. That’s also when I discovered the world of fanfiction. 

When and why did you decide to write fanfiction for the show?

I started writing general fiction when I was in fourth grade and really got into writing when I was in seventh grade. Buffy was the first show that I read and wrote fanfiction for.

I started writing during season seven because I was so desperate for some Spuffy togetherness that just wasn’t happening on air. I was a senior in high school at that time and very much an introvert (haha, I still am). I never posted any of my work, but I still have the two stories that I started writing back then. They are actually handwritten on notebook paper. I reread them when I came back into the fandom during the pandemic and boy oh boy were they some schmoopy, sweep you off your feet romances. I’m still very much into the romance, but I like to think that I’ve come a long way from those super sappy days.

When the closures happened, I revisited the fandom like so many people did and I fell in love with BtVS and Spuffy all over again. I did most of my reading on FanFiction.net and then I discovered Elysian Fields and joined Sunnydale After Dark when it kicked off. I was always a lurker, even back in the day. Then finally on March 9, 2021, I left my first comment. I started coming out of my shell and soon the writing muse was pounding on my door.

I hadn’t written any fiction or poetry since I was an undergrad in college, so it was very daunting to come back to this style. I had tons of ideas rattling around in my head and that’s where they stayed for months because I was positively terrified that I wouldn’t be able to write fiction again. When I just couldn’t contain my ideas any longer, I sat down one day in May 2021, and started writing. It was literally like opening the flood gates. The words just poured out of me and it was such an incredible high. I haven’t stopped writing since.

Why do you love Spike and Buffy?

Watching the first five seasons on fast-forward and with the added insight of knowing Angel left and Spike was there to stay, I saw the Bangel relationship develop and it just didn’t do anything for me. Plus, Evil!Angelus and Poor-Me!Angel were total turn offs.

When Spike came to town and stayed permanently, I fell in love. His character was just so original, witty, and…COOL! I was 16 at the time and totally down with the bad boy persona. Who am I kidding, I still am, but only if he has bleached blond hair and happens to be a vampire.

Spike is my favorite character, apart from Buffy, and I love his development throughout the series. I was on the edge of my seat when the season six finale aired and he got his soul, and I love the fact that he got it for Buffy of his own volition. That being said, I don’t believe Spike needed his soul to love Buffy. He is truly a unique vampire in this verse and that makes him such an interesting character to read and write stories for.

I truly love the character of Buffy. She is strong and compassionate and works her ass off for absolutely no reward other than knowing that she saved the world…a lot. She is the very definition of selfless and I think that is an amazing character trait to have. I also love that she does not wallow or complain—ever. She’s had more than her fair share of hardships in her life, but she takes them all in stride and keeps fighting the good fight.

In the end, I truly believe Spike and Buffy are a perfect match and they belong together. 

Which three fanfics that you’ve written are your favorite? Why are they your favorite?

Oh boy. This is so hard because I love all of my stories. I know that sounds conceited, but I think all writers love their work, otherwise we wouldn’t spend the time on it. But since I have to choose three, here goes.

• Come Back to Me – This was the very first thing I started writing on that day back in May 2021, although I didn’t really get into it and start posting it until October of that year. When I originally outlined it, I was trying for a story with about twenty chapters and hoping to hit 75,000 words. This ended up being an epic with 175,000 words. It’s the longest thing that I’ve ever written and I posted it weekly without interruption until it was complete at thirty-two chapters. I was so proud of myself when I finished this piece and it holds tremendous sentimental value for me.
• From Here to Eternity – This was a birthday gift fic for the lovely violettathepiratequeen. It’s an angsty AU fic that I find myself revisiting anytime I need to get into that mindset. It stemmed from the idea of Spike and Buffy living hundreds of years alone in the world and then finding each other. I fell into such a trance when writing this piece and I slip back into it anytime I reread it.
• Ties to the World – This is another angsty story and one that I actually didn’t like at first. I came up with this idea that I liked well enough for a Road Trip Challenge. When I started writing this story though, it felt like a very sluggish process (I think because there isn’t a lot of dialogue in it until the end) and I just wanted it to be done. It came together, but I didn’t feel a real connection to it like I normally do when I’m writing my stories. In fact, when I sent it to my beta, I told her, “Here it is. I like it, but I don’t love it.” She came back telling me how much she enjoyed it and I thought, “Ok, I’m glad it’s working.” When I posted it, I got so many comments from people telling me they loved the piece and wanted a sequel for it. I actually had to step back and say, “Really?” I went back and read it again, this time with the comments fresh in my mind, and I fell in love with it too. 

What words of advice would you give other fans who write or want to write fanfiction?

I know it’s been said before, but that’s because it’s true. Just do it!

I know firsthand how terrifying it can be to start writing, but if you take the step, you unlock all these doors to so many wonderful worlds. I write because I constantly have ideas buzzing around in my brain, but the benefits I get from writing are tenfold. I find it to be a form of stress release and that’s so important to have in your life. It also provides me with an emotional release that at times I really need. We all go through reading phases where we’re craving something light and fluffy, or dramatic and angsty. Writing is the same way. I find my stories develop based on my current mindset and that can be very cathartic. And finally, it allows me to connect with others who share my interests and passions. Yep, I’m talking about all you Spuffy shippers!

Questions from Dusty:

Which character is the hardest for you to write? Which one is the easiest?

When I read this question Xander and Willow were the first to pop into my head as the hardest to write. Then I thought about it some more and, yeah, I think I’m sticking with them. I find that all of the characters have their easy moments to write and their difficult moments, it just depends on what you’re having them do. But, I think Xander and Willow are the most difficult for me because I don’t include them a lot in my stories, so their voices are harder to find.

I find Spike to be the easiest to write and I often write from his POV. I think it’s because of the accent. I love a good accent and I love hearing his voice in my head. I also really like to swear and Spike is more likely to do that than Buffy, haha! I write a lot of sex scenes as well, and Spike is definitely the easier POV to write because he’s more comfortable with the sex talk.

What would you say to other authors when they're feeling discouraged from lack of feedback or interaction with their story?

I write first and foremost for me. I either have an idea bubbling inside my brain that I need to get out, or some challenge was issued and I HAVE to complete it. Obviously, we all post our stories because we want people to read and enjoy them, and the best way to know that that is happening is through likes and comments. But, at the end of the day if I’m happy with what I wrote and I want to read it, then that is all that matters to me. I have stories that I really love that haven’t gotten much attention. It is a bit sad, because you want all your stories to get the love, but it’s going to happen. You can’t get bogged down by that aspect of writing and posting, because it will most definitely affect your desire to write.

I know that’s easier said than done, but you can’t control how people will respond to your work. You can control how you feel about it though. And if you love it, then nothing else matters and you’ll keep wanting to write more.

Do you plan your stories out in detail, just wing it, or something in between?

I’ve done both, but I pretty much fall right in the middle. Got Your Six had an incredibly detailed outline, complete with some dialogue and pre-written scenes. It’s one that got tabled until later, and then when I decided I was finally going to write it, it was really hard to get into a groove. My plan was so detailed that I felt like I knew everything that happened and there were no surprises left to write. It took a while to get into the writing process with that one, but once I did the detailed plan was nice because I knew exactly what I had to write for each chapter and used it like a checklist.

I’ve also just sat down and written a story that popped into my head with absolutely no plan whatsoever; Off the Page and One Good Day are examples of that. For the most part, when I get an idea, I create a new Word doc and jot down some notes. I’ll add ideas and dialogue to it when inspiration strikes and then just let my muse take me wherever it decides to go for that story.

We are so excited to share the challenge for our March 2023 drabble event: Short and Spuffy! Big thanks to Grief Counseling for coining the event name voted upon by our Facebook community. Another thank you to VioletMoon for inspiring the idea of an all drabble event!

So, without further ado, the guidelines:

For the first 30 days of March, a new prompt will be posted every morning (by 9am site time) in a centralized Sunnydale Press news post. These prompts will be short, sweet, and open-ended.

For example: “Rolling pins.”

You'll write a drabble inspired by the prompt. Feel free to take it in any direction you want. You do not have to use the words from the prompt in the drabble.

Maybe you’ll write a sexy snippet with Spike and Buffy baking things with chocolate, or maybe you’ll write a tidbit about Buffy whacking Spike over the head with Willow’s rolling pin after Something Blue, or maybe rolling pins will be a metaphor for Buffy’s regret about making such a bad baking metaphor as she misses Spike.

The word goal for each drabble is exactly 100 words. This is inspired by the long-running Live Journal community, open_on_sunday, which for many years featured a weekly challenge to write 100-word Jossverse drabbles.

You can choose to post the drabble at any point during the month of March, so it does not have to be the day of the prompt. We are all busy! March 31 will serve as a catch-up day with no new prompt.

Now for the awards!

You can earn awards in two ways: by writing and commenting. You will accumulate more awards the more drabbles and comments you write.

For comments:
15-39 Comments = The Comment Hero Award
40-69 Comments = The Comment Champion Award
70-99 Comments = The Comment Slayer Award

If you write 100+ comments, you earn the ultimate grand prize! The Naked Buffy Award.

For writers:
1-9 Drabbles = The Drabble Hero Award
10-19 Drabbles = The Drabble Champion Award
20-29 Drabbles = The Drabble Slayer Award

For completing all drabble prompts, you will earn the highly coveted Naked Spike Award!

So, in total, there are 8 shiny awards up for grabs for this event!

Here’s a sneak peek of just one:

Your drabbles do not need to connect narratively (unless you want them to!), but please organize your drabbles for the event into one story and post each drabble as a new chapter. This will just make it easier for us to find them all when we are doling out awards at the end.

Feel free to post on Discord in the event channel if you're in need of a banner for this event.

And lastly, as always, don’t forget to check the event box when you post!

We look forward to coming together to make March less dreary. Happy drabbling, everybody!!

Hello, lovely Spuffy lovelies!

We wanted to shine a light on a new page we've added to the site. You'll find it under Browse. It's called "Fandom Links." sandy_s worked hard to compile this list of Buffy and predominantly Spuffy-related links and resources.

This is the internet, of course, so the list is always growing! If you have any suggestions, please shoot us an email or share it with us on Discord, so we can add it to the list. As always, we want this site to feel community-cultivated. We want your ideas, your suggestions, and your input on how the archive can grow and serve us all.

With this new links page, our hope is that this site connects everyone with this shared niche interest. We want to support the varying websites, archives, and ways in which we fans all engage with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and, of course, Spike and Buffy in particular.

So happy new year! And thank you for being a part of Sunnydale After Dark!

Better late than never! Here are the Scoobies of the Month interviews for December 2022. 

Commenter of the Month for December 2022, scratchmeout:

When and why did you start reading fanfiction for the show?

I started reading fanfic during season 7, working off of recommendations on an old Spuffy site/message board, Crumbling Walls, and then moving to LJ and following favorite writers and recs. 

I believe my first fics were by Herself, Eurydice, and Mary and I was hooked. "Journeys" (by Mary) is still season 6 canon for me and I won't hear differently! I wasn't entirely unhappy with what was happening on the show, but I wanted more and certainly needed more Spuffy goodness. In fic, they could be happy, angsty, fluffy, sexy...all of it and everything and being able to read these characters that I loved being written by people who also loved them, who wanted to care for them, wanted to explore the complications and intricacies of Buffy and Spike as people and as a couple, was amazing. They were treated with respect and love in fanfiction and that made me want to dive into it.

What words of advice would you give other fans who comment or are considering maybe commenting on fanfiction?

Don't feel like you have to leave a hundred word comment. I put this pressure on myself, as well, but as a person who also receives comments, even a simple "Loved it!" or even just an emoji makes me whole day. You're commenting to encourage them, let them know their on the right path, that you're enjoying it. 

Once you start commenting, you'll feel more comfortable the more you read and before you know it, you'll be writing in caps lock and swearing (nicely, of course) at the authors! I try to remember the feeling I have while I'm reading it and try to convey that when I leave a note.

Questions for scratchmeout from the lovely Chelle:

What is your Spuffy weakness that you will read every time and love? (for me, I have a little bit of a Spike takes care of Buffy kink)

It doesn't happen often, but when it does, I devour it: Buffy and Spike communicating and being open about their feelings, thoughts, etc. Even if it could be angsty, it ultimately leads to a better place and happiness. I just want to surround them in joy because it didn't happen so I tend to read a fic that will give that to me.

What is your favorite fanfic you've ever read in any fandom? One that you've read multiple times?

My favorite has always been "Journeys" by Mary. It was a perfect retelling of season 6, for me.
My go-to rereads: Fangs Out by Dynamite, The Time We Had by Dusty, Teach Me How by Grief Counseling, The Tutorverse by Holly, Swipe Right to Connect by ashedcrashed, The Lawyer and Cop Series by MaggieLeFay, Crave by Nautibitz, and last but NOT least, Aeternum in Anno by Chelle. Currently reading Aloof Rocker Kryptonite by JustTiff and unless it suddenly goes off the rails, it will be added to this go-to list. OH, and I don't read a lot of not R/NC-17, but I have to mention violettathepirateaqueen and especially Inhuman Behavior.

Is there a Spuffy trope that you're tired of?

PAIN. Allllll the pain. Let's take our collective trauma, grief, and pain out on each other. I get it, I can appreciate the need for it, and I get why people want it, but I can't do it. Ultimately, it's why fic is so great - there's something for everyone. 

Author of the Month for December, Chelle:

When and why did you decide to write fanfiction for the show?

I started writing fanfic in the first season. OMG, I can't believe I'm admitting this. I wrote a TON of Buffy/Angel. A TON. Novel length tonnage. I can't escape it. It's out there and it lives. But the second Spike showed up ... I was all in. ALL in. The minute he watched her dance in his first episode ... I wanted THAT. Before Buffy, I was writing My So Called Life and Santa Barbara and movie fanfic like crazy. It's just something I've literally done since the 80s. God, I'm old.

Which three fanfics that you’ve written are your favorite? Why are they your favorite?

First, my all time favorite isn't in the Spuffy fandom. It's in the Grey's Anatomy fandom. It's called One Heart Too Many and it's the first time that I've written something that truly resonated with thousands of people *and* me. I was asked to do radio shows because of it and a newspaper article was written about it. It just truly blew me away to be accepted and told I contributed something to people that really made them FEEL things. I was asked to officiate weddings and use my words from that fanfic in the ceremonies so that was beyond touching. It was so well received but more important than that ... the story itself was my way of saying goodbye to my nephew who died at age 21. The character he's based on survives in my fanfic and it let me write my own memories growing up with him to share with the reader. It allowed my nephew to come back to life on the page and in my heart that I will never experience again in life. He was my first best friend and that came through so loud and clear in the story. And it was my first real foray into writing a bisexual character who is stuck between a man and a woman and a homophobic family and following her heart. It just meant so much to me. I truly learned who I am as a writer from that story.

My favorite Buffy fic I've written has to be Waiting on My Spaceship. It's not finished yet, but I do know the ending and I'm beyond proud of the fact that I didn't let my fear of how it would be received stop me from going full steam ahead with taking Buffy into darkness. I wanted to see how low I could believably make her go and I think I really pulled off what I was aiming for. I think the story, to this point, has remained true to where I wanted it to go and I'm excited to see if I can maintain the enthusiasm I feel and passion I have for keeping Buffy's struggles as real and HUMAN as possible in a vampire story. Surrounded by the supernatural, Buffy's human issues are even bigger than the real demons she's facing. And that's been incredible to dive into and has my complete interest.

My third ... I think it's probably going to be Walking After Midnight even though I think Aeternum in Anno is written better. Walking was written while the show was airing in Season 4 and I created this entire backstory about how/why Spike was turned into a vampire and what The Initiative was actually up to. I remember some readers falling apart and having issues with who Spike used to be but the majority of people loved my idea of who he was as a human. It was so much fun to write and share in between episodes, too. I remember people had a tally on what I'd get right/wrong with The Initiative storyline. I truly miss those days when the show was airing and people were so excited but knowing how it all ends? Wouldn't trade it for the world. :)

What words of advice would you give other fans who write or want to write fanfiction?

Spellcheck is your friend. I edit my stuff in Google docs because I really like the editor there. Then I paste it into email and check it AGAIN and then I paste it into SunnydaleAfterDark and reread it AGAIN because the SAD editor usually finds anything I've missed. Don't ignore those blue underlines the editor displays ... scroll down and check it out. And don't be afraid to ask for a Beta to help. We're all in this together and we all do it because we love the show so much. I feel like putting your very best out there is the key to engaging a reader and finding your voice. And if you write because the story inside you is demanding to be told ... if you open a vein and bleed with it ... it deserves those little touches that make it as perfect as you can get it for publishing. :)

Questions for Chelle from the lovely scratchmeout:

What’s your process for how you begin a story? 

Oh, it's usually a LOT of sitting and staring at Google Docs trying to figure out the opening words. Honestly, there's also the building of a playlist to put me in the right frame of mind for whatever tone I'm going for. I usually write in complete silence, but sometimes I need the background noise so I build a fic specific playlist to keep me in that zone. That helps me more than anything because I never outline and never will because I like to see what happens with the reader ... I almost always know a few things that MUST happen, but the rest will surprise even me. Then there is a TON of backspacing and deleting and questioning and doubting and almost tossing my laptop out the window before I get through the first full paragraph. But then the joy comes when I get to the end of the first chapter and send my baby out into the world to be read. It's so worth it.

Top 5 Buffy episodes? Bottom 5?

My Top Five:
Once More With Feeling (I'm a music whore!)
Fool For Love (Spike's past!!)
Hush (So damn creepy!)
Touched (Spike's speech!)
Something Blue (OMG, they were so happy!)

My Bottom 5:
Incan Mummy Girl (Xander bores me!)
I Robot, You Jane (Even thought I do still whine about Moloch being in my computer.)
Superstar (I just didn't love Jonathon doing that spell. Or Briley.)
Where The Wild Things Are (Briley sex. And more Briley sex. MY EYES!)
As You Were (I hated Riley showing up with his perfect wife and seeing Buffy working fast food.)

Besides naked Spuffy, what do you find to be essential to tell a good story?

I love snark and banter so much. Buffy/Spike work best when they're bantering and poking at each other ... even when they're totally in love. Reading them finding new and exciting ways to push each other's buttons is always a pleasure for me. Angst is also my oxygen so I love a bit of that in a good story. I also love it when writers pay attention to detail. This might sound strange but sometimes writers will jar you out of a story and make you have to scroll back up to reread because you suddenly went from riding in the car to everyone being naked on the roof without understanding how/why. So, I think attention to detail is important for a story to keep flowing and keep you immersed in it. 

I also think that spellcheck is a writer's best friend. Seriously. It is. I've misspelled my fair share of stuff and never see it even on a third or fourth edit (because our brains tend to read it how we intended it and not how it actually is) so I absolutely love and rely on spellcheck since my fingers fly faster than my brain. And getting a beta reader, especially when you're a new author just starting, will teach you more than you'll know what to do with. I learned so much when I was just starting out by having a beta who would put [all my many mistakes between brackets with an explanation] so I'd have to manually go back in and read that and apply the changes. When I beta for someone, that's how I send their story back to them, too. Because it's the best teacher in the world.

A huge and heartfelt THANK YOU to the people who voted for me to win Author of the Month. I can't overstate how amazing it feels to share my fanfic hobby here and for it to resonate with anyone. I've gotten some of the most beautiful feedback and profound private messages since I started to write Spaceship. You guys are incredible and your support and comments mean the world to me. Coming back and playing in the Spuffy fandom after literally years away has been the best part of 2022 for me. And being a part of SAD is beyond anything I've experienced in other fandoms. It's a truly supportive community here. So, thank you. Thank you thank you thank you! You are all wonderful and I'm so happy to be here. (And let's just never talk about my drunken antics during White Elephant, okay?)

In the spirit of transparency, we need to share with you that a situation arose behind the scenes with someone entrusted to work as an admin. While in her official capacity, this admin used what was once our official Twitter account to maliciously attack fellow Spuffy fans and make political posts that are not representative of us as a whole. She attacked fellow admins when asked to refrain from misusing Twitter and to apologize to the fellow Twitter users she mistreated.

After many weeks of trying to resolve the ongoing issues (which caused another admin to step down due to the persistent turmoil), she was removed as an admin. However, she still refused to relinquish control of our official Twitter, separate the account from this archive's name, or to delete it entirely. We would have been satisfied with any of these outcomes.

Due to the level of animosity, the many ignored warnings and hostile communication, and our worry for the safety of this community and its members, we felt we had no choice but to follow our own community guidelines and remove her from the site entirely. Any member who engages in harassment, impersonation, and open aggression will always be removed (after the appropriate warnings and attempts at communication) for the sake of a healthy environment. 

This is not a decision we made lightly. It came about after more than two months of internal struggle. The wellbeing of this community is and must remain our top priority. We harbor no ill will toward the ex-admin and wish her all the best. We also do not diminish or dismiss her contribution to this site, which was profound. None of us are happy with the way this entire situation has worked out.

Our only official Twitter account is @SunnyDAfterDark.

With any new creation, growing pains are inevitable. We sincerely apologize for the flames and the egregious misuse of our official Twitter. We'd like to officially extend an olive branch to anyone who was flamed on Twitter and assure you that you will always be welcome (and safe) to post here. We remain committed to making this archive a welcoming and encouraging environment.

Thank you for joining us and for your understanding as we navigate this difficult situation.

Congrats to both Chelle and scratchmeout for being our Scoobies of the Month for November 2022! Hope you enjoy their interviews below!

November 2022 Commenter of the Month, Chelle:

How did you come to watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer?

I was absolutely gutted when My So Called Life was canceled in 1995. I was starving for another 'teen' type show to lose myself in. I saw a little article in TV Guide about Buffy the Vampire Slayer airing as a replacement series in 1997 and fell in absolute love with the photo that accompanied the article. It was Sarah Michelle Gellar standing in the foreground in a red/burgundy dress and Xander, Willow, Giles in the background. It had a gothic vibe and I just knew I was going to love it. And I did. Vampires have always appealed to me. I canceled plans to tune in to the first episode and I think I watched it three times in one night. It felt so different than anything I'd EVER seen at that point. It was funny and their language was quick witted and full of puns. It became a weekly appointment for me and I couldn't get enough. I did worry nonstop that it would be canceled like My So Called Life but I hung in and I'm still hanging in to this day.

When and why did you decide to read fanfiction for the show?

I actually started writing fanfic when I was a teenager in the 80s (for a soap called Santa Barbara and for movies) and would swap stories with friends at school and then in a group at the local library. It was all typewritten or handwritten. But feedback was important and we'd type out reviews to give back with the stories. LOL!! Once the internet arrived, I got into all kinds of fanfic. I stumbled on Laure Alexander's fanfic for Buffy and just lost myself in it. I can remember reading at a place called UnConventional Shippers and finding all these unique pairings. Then I found Saber Shadowcat and Lynx and so many others. It was so amazing to write and read as the show was airing. It went from being a sorta hobby to an almost full time job I spent so many hours reading and writing. And I'm obviously back in that place. I can't get enough. SAD's creation has really inspired me to read and write again.

Why do you love Spike and Buffy?

I think I wrote my first Spuffy fic after School Hard. There was just something about the way Spike watched Buffy dancing at The Bronze that woke me up in all the ways. I was all in. ALL IN. I think for me, their banter and wit and unreal sexual chemistry just bounces off the screen and the page. It's breath taking and interesting to an extent that keeps me riveted. I love the way he sees her and knows what she's thinking before she even does. And I love the way she supported him and believed in him, even before he went and got a soul. I adore that SHE was his soul for a really long time and made him go completely outside of himself and his instincts to be someone she could lean on and trust. And I wouldn't be me if I didn't mention how dang smutty sexy they are together. I love love love all the ways that writers get them into bed or out of bed doing dirty stuff in many many many ways. It's hot. They're scorching hot. :)

What words of advice would you give other fans who comment or are considering maybe commenting on fanfiction?

Please please please leave feedback if you like a story. Even if you don't like a story but you took the time to read it ... kind constructive criticism is usually welcomed because it helps a writer improve. Feedback is the only payment a fanfic writer gets. That's all. And it truly means the world to hear what resonated, what didn't, and how the reader was affected by it. I tend to leave long rambly three hundred word comments because I feel like a writer puts so much blood, sweat, and tears into their work and I want them to know that I noticed and spend time thanking them with my own words. But even if you only leave a sentence ... it matters. SO much. It's important to feel seen and that people recognize what you're contributing to the fandom. So please PLEASE leave feedback. That's a paycheck for a writer and even if it's five words ... it's the best feeling in the world to be noticed.

Thank you so much! Everyone who is part of SAD is amazing and I'm honored to be a part of it.

November 2022 Author of the Month, scratchmeout:

How did you come to watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer?

The first episode I watched was "Witch" and I thought it was fine. I loved the movie, so I was a bit on the fence about it being a TV show. I saw IKWYDLS and really enjoyed Sarah (I had also watched her in "Swan's Crossing after school sometimes). Then, there was an ad for "Halloween" in TV Guide and thought I love Halloween episodes, I'm going to check it out. And that was it. Completely hooked from then on!

When and why did you decide to write fanfiction for the show?

The very first fic I wrote was immediately after "Innocence" aired and it was so long. I never posted it anywhere, I don't even think there's a copy that exists sadly because I'd be very curious how that would look ;) I started writing again towards the end of Season 7. I joined Crumbling Walls and was introduced to so many good stories and All Human fics which was a revelation. I decided to start with that kind of a story, it felt safer than writing in canon! So I started Marriage, Sunnydale-Style about two weeks before "Chosen" aired because I knew, without a doubt, that I was about to get my heart torn out and I wanted something fluffy and happy. It remained a WIP until about a month ago when I edited, added to it, and completed it! As I grew more confident, I started writing in canon. I took a break from all fandoms around 2010 and then came back after the 25th, started reading fic again and felt the need to finish a story idea I had started back then (Finding Her). I write them because I want them to be happy because I'm a big, sappy softie. 

Why do you love Spike and Buffy?

When I started shipping them (during their truce), it was probably more the simple fact that I wanted their faces on each other's faces ;) But then they had to go and give them depth (and pretend like they didn't). I really fell in love with Spike loving Buffy and exploring what that looked like without his soul. I loved them in early season 6, loved them less post-Wrecked, and felt that they earned back the OTP title in season 7. The way that they evolve and learn with one another, how they come to trust each other again, to have each other's backs, to accept their good and bad traits, and that deep understanding they have for one another...it's so beautiful to watch. And the bonus being that the groundwork is there for all of us to write them in any season, really, because each variation of Spuffy is intriguing.

Which three fanfics that you’ve written are your favorite? Why are they your favorite?

This question is a hard one! So I think, as of today because this is constantly changing the more I write (which is a good thing, I think!), my 3 favorites would be:

As I'm Leaving - this was my second non-AH fic and I decided to do it in Spike POV and I loved the challenge of it. Time travel is always fun and I was heavily inspired by The Time Traveler's Wife, which is a favorite.

Finding Her - I love a story with B/S/D family unit and I wanted to dive into what would have happened if Dawn had jumped and Buffy quit slaying and came to Spike to help her, as well as explore what was happening in Sunnydale without them there.

No Remedy for Memory - I loved the way this turned out and I really wasn't sure what the hell I was doing when I started, which is not like me. It definitely ended up someplace different than my initial outline, but once I knew and understood the story and what I wanted to explore, it came together nicely. I really loved AlternaBuffy and wanted to protect her at all costs.

What words of advice would you give other fans who write or want to write fanfiction?

This isn't anything groundbreaking, but write what YOU want to write. I can easily get Imposter Syndrome and can get really down on myself, especially if comments are questioning the choices I've made.  But if I'm telling the story I want, I know I'm more likely to be successful at both writing it and finishing it. So, really figure out what you're comfy with. If you love AH and that's where you want to be, do it! Everything isn't for everyone. You'll find your audience by writing things that you're excited to explore. 

I'd also recommend finding a beta you trust, that you can have open, sometimes difficult (because we're writers and we're all sensitive about our work) conversations about the story/the writing. I've known mine since Crumbling Walls and LJ and when I decided to try writing again, I reached out to her and it's been an amazing relationship. She makes me a better writer because I swear everything would be Boston double negatives, no commas, and would look like a screenplay!