jamsudreams

[jamsudreams]

I'm With You Chapter 10

Story Summary: Set in 2x02 but instead of Damon finding Caroline Klaus does.

Read in AO3

[jamsudreams]

A Spuffy Fan's Perspective on the Reboot

So, as most Buffy fandom knows (unless they’ve been living under a rock in a crater on the Hellmouth), it was announced yesterday that SMG is involved in a Buffy reboot sequel series, one in which she will be a recurring but not central character.

As a lifelong Buffy fan, I’m expected to be overjoyed at this news, and I’m, well, not. Nor are a good number of people deeply entrenched in fandom. I’m super happy for the people who are excited. As a Spuffy fan, though, it’s hard to be jazzed for a number of reasons, among these being that SMG is most definitely a Bangel shipper, and despite being overwhelmingly more popular than Bangel in current times, Spuffy is often overlooked in a lot of key areas of the “official” Buffy promotions, the comics being a notable and welcome exception.

One thing I’ve noticed is a lot of people in Spuffy fandom are more than just “not normal” about Spuffy. I’ve struggled for 20+ years to both identify and articulate why the ship resonates with me so much to the point that news like this can make my anxiety spiral. I understand it’s not an ideal reaction media, but I have lived inside a neurodivergent brain my entire life and that ain’t about to change. And I’m not the only one—I’ve met and interacted with many, many people who feel as intensely as I do and also struggle to articulate why news like this distresses them.

So for everyone who is like me, slightly more than just “not normal” about Spuffy (or any aspect of Buffy!) and distressed about the news, here are some things I keep reminding myself.

Buffy is an Established Multi-Universe Property

We know that there are multiple universes in Buffy; it’s explored in The Wish and then confirmed by Anya later in the series. Not just multiple dimensions, but divergent/adjacent worlds to the one we saw in the show. This has been later explored in the comics, such as The Lost Summer, the Boom reboot, and The Last Vampire Slayer, never mind the plethora of authorized novels and the recent audio play. These were all officially sanctioned, licensed productions that exist outside the official canon.

All of these stories matter, regardless of whether or not they’re considered “official.” For my Spuffy people, some are Spuffy friendly and some are not. We acknowledge what we want to acknowledge and leave the rest behind. Me? If I find the sequel reboot upsetting, I’ll mentally shove it into one of those other worlds, the same as I’ve done with the comics for years (yes, even if they got Spuffy friendly).

One of the points that was brought up yesterday when I suggested just giving the sequel reboot the comics treatment was it’s harder to ignore if SMG is involved. And I get that; I felt the same way about the Slayers audioplay, because significant OG cast members were involved so it felt more official. But upon reflection, I do still think it’s the same as the comics, which were spearheaded and overseen by JW and still considered (until this sequel reboot happens) the official post-series canon. If the involvement of original artists is what makes or breaks something’s authority, then the medium shouldn’t really matter.

And on that note…

Star Wars Legends, Halloween, Terminator, & Other Reboots

For years—decades—following Return of the Jedi, the official Star Wars canon was continued in novels, the same as Buffy was. There was a rich tapestry of intergalactic politics, Leia and Han’s Force family, Luke and Mara Jade, and characters like Grand Admiral Thrawn that proved so popular he’s been recanonized.

These books existed and still exist. The new movies, the reset of canon, all things involving Rey Palpatine Skywalker and Kylo Ben Ren exist alongside established, official property. I know plenty of people who were upset that their investment in the extended Star Wars family was essentially nixed with the sequel series 10 years ago, and others who chose not to acknowledge the sequel series but maintain their post-Jedi canon.

In an era of reboots and sequel series, canon can become a bit diluted. You can’t just erase everything that came before you decided to hit the “start over” button. The recent Halloween trilogy flat-out ignored multiple movies to tell the story it wanted to tell. Terminator has done the same thing, multiple times, with the Sarah Connor Chronicles being officially licensed and more or less officially scrapped, and the last Terminator movie retconning like, what, four or five that came out after Judgment Day. That is to say, established canon doesn’t really matter in this era, because the people making these decisions are doing what fan artists have done for decades; keeping what they want, tossing all else aside, and focusing on the story they want to tell.

If what came before and what has been long established doesn’t matter (and I actually do love this; it opens up worlds and essentially gives us licensed what-if fics), then canon itself is kind of nebulous. It doesn’t matter what is or isn’t established, because established canon is a moving target, subject to personal interpretation. Don’t like the Halloween reboot? Ignore it. There are other movies out there. Don’t like the clusterfuck Disney has made of Star Wars? There is a fully developed alternative. Don’t like any of the options? Come up with your own. Comics do it all the time with superhero stories, and Buffy is nothing if not a superhero.

It’s All Fiction

This is what drives my husband crazy when I try to explain my beyond not normal feelings about Spuffy. It’s all fiction. We’re not talking about historical events here. All fiction lives in exactly one place, ultimately, and that’s between your ears. If you don’t like the way a fictional story went, you can do what fanartists have been doing for years and create your own fix-it. Or find a ready-made fix-it; I promise it exists. And the more I think about it, the less stock I put into “official” stories that are told primarily to make money. The people who are here telling these stories because they love the characters and know the characters on levels that frankly outperform most licensed stuff.

In Summary

So I’ve rambled a lot, but here are the key points to take away:

Buffy is canonically a multi-universe property so the world we’re shown by official licensed sources see isn’t the only one that exists. I didn’t say this in the section, but in this way, all fanfic is canon, because each exists in a different universe

If canon is not sacred in the world of reboots, then what they try to sell us as canon is debatable, negligible, and ultimately fine to just not acknowledge

Official canon doesn’t really matter all that much when you can pick your own, which you can and should

I hope this helps my fellow Spuffys and anyone else who is struggling with the news. My siblings in beyond just not normal. Your feelings, even if you have trouble explaining or understanding them, are valid. You’re not silly. It’s never silly to be upset about news that impacts something important to you. And there’s still so much we don’t know, so speculation abounds, but whatever comes of this, I hope you find some comfort in the freedom of being able to do exactly what the for-profit storytellers do all the time and just fucking ignore what doesn’t suit them.

In the meantime, Elysian Fields Archive will remain a Spuffy exclusive safe space, and I imagine will be home to a shitload of fix-its if the pilot gets picked up, so you’re free to join us there.

Until then, be good to yourself, and to somebody else.

[jamsudreams]

I'm With You Chapter 9

Story Summary: Set in 2x02 but instead of Damon finding Caroline Klaus does.

Read in AO3

[jamsudreams]

I’m With You Chapter 8

Story Summary: Set in 2x02 but instead of Damon finding Caroline Klaus does.

Read in AO3

[jamsudreams]

I’m With You Chapter 7

Story Summary: Set in 2x02 but instead of Damon finding Caroline Klaus does.

Read in AO3

[jamsudreams]

[jamsudreams]

I'm With You Chapter 4

Story Summary: Set in 2x02 but instead of Damon finding Caroline Klaus does.

Read in AO3

[jamsudreams]

Klaus and Caroline in “Down the Rabbit Hole”  — Need my help with anything, love? Nope.

[jamsudreams]

Story Summary: Set in 2x02 but instead of Damon finding Caroline Klaus does.

Read in AO3

[jamsudreams]

I'm With You Chapter 2

Story Summary: Set in 2x02 but instead of Damon finding Caroline Klaus does.

Read in AO3

[jamsudreams]

FAVORITE DOCTOR WHO MOMENTS

5x13 “The Big Bang”

"River... Who are you?" "You're going to find out very soon now, and I'm sorry, but that's when everything changes."

[jamsudreams]

I am an unplanned only child. My mom is a sexologist, my dad is a psychologist. They never loved me. They were only concerned about one another and their sex life. I come from a shit town called Mjøndalen and fled as soon as I was 15. Fled to Madrid. I talk to them once a month. They are happy without me. I am happy without them.

[jamsudreams]

10 characters // 10 fandoms

rules: list ten favorite characters from separate fandoms/media, then tag (ten) people

Tagged by @lilacsandorangeblossoms

Kol Mikaelson (The Originals)

2. Spike (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

3. Kai Parker (The Vampire Diaries)

4. Wesley Wyndam-Price (Angel)

5. Godric (True Blood)

6. Paige Matthews (Charmed)

7. 11 (Doctor Who)

8. Daisy Johnson (Agents of Shield)

9. Rowena MacLeod (Supernatural)

10. Lizzie Saltzman (Legacies)

I haven't been active in tumblr in forever so tagging anyone who wants to do this

[jamsudreams]

Buffy and Spike falling into open graves

[jamsudreams]

she's everything.

he's just ken.

[jamsudreams]

The [deleted] scene that prompted the voicemail he left. (x)

[jamsudreams]

Won't Let You Down Chapter 2

Based on my old Won't Let You Down AU picture edits.

Story Summary: Set in Season 7 of TVD/ Season 3 of TO. Caroline goes missing and Stefan doesn't know what else to do, so he calls Caroline. Klaus goes to Mystic Falls with his sister to try to find out what happened to Caroline.

Read in AO3 or in FF.NET