#My Buffy Story

[muffinlance]

EMERGENCY FANFIC PROTOCOLS: ACTIVATED

Hey while AO3 is down

Here is a GDrive link to all my downloaded fics (it's OVER 9,000 2,000)

Mostly Avatar, also The Magnus Archives, Danny Phantom, Teen Wolf, and a few others

Mostly unsorted, some not even intentionally downloaded because the auto-downloader I use is Like That, so consider this a glorified "give me a random fic" button

MAKE SURE TO KUDOS THE AUTHORS WHEN AO3 IS BACK UP

>>> Linkie link <<<

Edit: Note that when AO3 comes back up that link will go dead again... until it's needed, once more

EMERGENCY FANFIC PROTOCOLS: DEACTIVATED

...Until next they are needed

If you were going through these for fic recs, check out my AO3 Bookmarks for the more curated list.

To make your own fanfic backups, I recommend AO3 Downloader or FanFicFare. (I'm not tech support for either; please don't message me for help.)

Happy reading!

[writeouswriter]

I love how ominous such basic names like "The Organization" or "The Institute" or "The Initiative" or "The Facility" or etc. are when placed in like a shady sci-fi context, like there's no reason for them to sound that suspicious, but without elaboration, it's like here is a place where they are doing things™ and I am like ooohh, because the blank state, the refusal to give you any more detail makes you think they're hiding something on purpose and leaves the darkest corner of the imagination left to fill in the rest.

[mistigrisunshine]

thinking about that scene from seeing red and how it’s the worst thing you could do to a ship. like the literal worst thing. worse than one half of the ship dying. the one thing you can’t come back from. also arguably the worst thing you could do to a beloved character. that’s partly why decades later people are still angry about it, still feel betrayed. i think it’s a testament to how good a ship spuffy is, and how good a character spike is, that the love for them has prevailed, that it could survive this.

[canislupusangelus]

Horror girl collage!!!! Some aren't horror but they have the same energy(mental illness)

[unripe-lemon]

REBLOG FOR MORE VOTES!!!!

[all-seeing-ifer]

I wouldn't say I think buffy is already suicidal in season 2 the way she is in season 6 and arguably lage season 5 but I do think ALL THINGS CONSIDERED it feels... a bit telling that buffy hears a story about a guy in the 50s who killed himself and just Immediately understands and identifies with him

[koriand3r]

Willow | Spike - Clothing

“Why are you still in costume?” “Okay, still having to explain wherein this is just my outfit.”

[jannacalendar]

I've fished out a load of old Buffy novels from the attic and have stumbled across a bit of a Calendiles goldmine in How I Survived My Summer Vacation. It's a series of short stories set between the first and second seasons about the gang spending the summer slaying while Buffy is visiting her dad. I don't know how many of you own or have read these books, so the highlights include:

« Giles' heart skipped a beat when Jenny glided into the courtyard. »

Upon seeing Jenny, Giles starts reciting Byron’s She Walks in Beauty to himself. This goes: She walks in beauty, like the night / Of cloudless climes and starry skies; And all that’s best of dark and bright / Meet in her aspect and her eyes…

Xander and Willow, across the short stories, taking it in turn to make little comments of varying degrees of discreetness about whether something is going on between the two of them. Willow enquires about whether Giles needs two tickets for an event because he's taking Ms. Calendar, while Xander is more blunt: « You two have been busy. Alone. Teacher’s in lust, I think. »

Giles being greatful Jenny hasn't disappeared on her « New Age be-in or whatever they were called these days » because he's enjoying getting closer to her.

« Her nearness was intoxicating and distracting. »

Giles gets injured and Jenny refuses to leave him despite all the vampires and the fire around them: « Her dark eyes were all he saw as thick smoke swirled around them both. ‘I love her… I cannot let her die.' »

Despite the Master's bones being stolen, Jenny's first priority is going to Giles in the hospital. She's also taking care of repairs and insurance claims at his apartment while he's admitted. When he's finally discharged they're holding hands.

Jenny and Giles decide to keep Willow and Xander out of harms way over the summer and take over slaying duties for themselves.

Giles has mixed feelings about this because, for as brave as Jenny may be, she's inexperienced and he is distracted by his feelings towards her. He wants to patrol alone to keep her out of danger, which Jenny does not take kindly too: « The macho look does not become you. »

Something appears. Jenny wants to split up and investigate. Giles doesn't. Jenny does anyway: « His brain said he should go left, complementing her action. His gut said he should protect Jenny at all costs. His brain never even stood a chance. »

They are dealing with a shapeshifter and Jenny, Giles, and Angel cannot trust each other. When a second Angel appears? « Instantly, Giles and Jenny moved closer together. »

Jenny tries (and succeeds) to get Giles to go to a fourth of July celebration with her.

« A corner of Jenny’s mouth lifted in a pretty smile, and despite himself, Rupert felt his resolve weakening. »

Giles is being cranky but is simultaneously unable to hide how happy he is to be spending the day with her.

Giles is so used to the Scoobies not caring about his research and ramblings that he is shocked that Jenny actually cares to listen to him.

« She was just so… delightful that sometimes he actually became speechless. »

Jenny calls Giles a stick in the mud then kisses him on the cheek. She later calls him handsome and kisses him.

Also the final story focuses on a travelling theatre troupe that go on murder sprees to match the plays they are putting on and I love that concept, what a fun idea to play with.

[camellcat]

so, I just saw seeing red for the first time. I thought I was prepared for what I was getting into? I wasn't. definitely had to take a break after that episode... wow. I can see why it had the actors getting therapy cause it left me shaking just after simply watching it. I can also see how that episode could completely turn someone against spike/spuffy. I adore spike but uh for once in my life I did not enjoy seeing him on my screen at all after that

[yellowocaballero]

hi! i've been reading some of your older fics and was wondering if there's any merit in watching buffy for the first time in the year 2024

This may not be obvious, but this is actually an extremely complicated and highly subjective question. I'll try to go on for too long.

As background: my mother loved Buffy and its spin-off Angel growing up. It was our Bible (besides the actual Bible). Not kidding, she was on the forums and fan groups and wrote fanfiction for it and everything (These days, she's really into kdramas and Asian dramas, and calls me about how the Thai seem like big fans of gay people). So I'm quite biased.

BTVS is both a product of its times and ahead of its times. It was a show about feminism and the struggle of living in this world as a woman, when very few shows were doing that. It was the first show to have a long-lasting lesbian couple, and the first show to depict a kiss between them. For better or for worse, it was one of the codifiers of broody vampire boyfriend. It was pretty unafraid to be experimental in a lot of what it did. It had incredibly complex and nuanced character work and growth that I still aspire to. Spike's arc is still matched in quality only by Avatar's Zuko. Angel's long term arc, from Buffy to his spin-off series, still makes him one of the most complex characters on TV. It had the most complex depiction of depression on TV at the time and I still think it's one of the best. I think the show had very high highs.

It also had very low lows. Some of the feminism is problematic in retrospect. The sapphic couple has a rather famous element that was severely problematic. There are, overall, some deeply atrocious arcs that I can appreciate objectively but not in practice. Xander: a whole-ass character aged awfully. On a meta level, the workplace conditions were bad (thanks, Whedon.) There are no people of color. The spoiler's sake I won't go into detail on this, but in general the good stuff was so influential and the bad stuff was just awful.

I think these days people tend to brush off the entire thing because it's Whedon. That is more than fair. But I'd also say that Whedon & Buffy is extremely similar to Brian Michael Bendis & Ultimate Spider-Man. Bendis was fantastic at writing sassy, bouncy, permanently stressed-out teens - issue was, he wrote entirely different serious adult characters the way he wrote these sassy teens. Same with Whedon: the annoyingly constant quips are perfect for Buffy, because that's who the characters are. They're awful in Marvel, because Steve Rogers is not Xander. Kinda similarly, Buffy was genuinely feminist for 90s TV - issue is, Whedon has not grown or developed his views, and now his works feel so sexist (oh my fucking god why did you treat Natasha like that). After a certain point it's egotistical: you're writing like that because you're Joss Whedon and it's how you write, not because it's what's best for the characters and story. But it was really important to me to get the character voices right, and it's freaking difficult to endlessly write dialogue that distinct, full of voice, witty, and clever.

I think BTVS & Angel TV's greatest influence on my writing is how intensely character-driven both of those shows were, and how intricate the characters were. What every character did was something they would do, if that made sense. Even the stuff I hated to watch, that made me uncomfortable, was the culmination of so much (usually). I think I also picked up the constant wit and humor lol. On a personal level, the conversations I would have with my mother where she broke down the character motivations and composition of the story was my first exposure to looking at storytelling from an analytical perspective and a framework of critical analysis, which was an approach I carried into the rest of the media I consumed and that was the primary reason I was able to become a decent writer. Thanks, Mom. Have fun with your kdramas.

TL:DR: There is merit, especially if you care about good character work. There are things about it that may make you want to drop it, which is extremely valid. Season 1 is rough but interesting, Season 2 and 5 are the best, Season 3 is pretty good, Season 4 and 7 skippable, and Season 6 is........epic highs, epic lows......

[notbraveenoughforpolitics]

H U S H

(Digital painting created in Procreate)

Another digital painting finished and we’re branching out from Star Wars to the Buffyverse!

In the time this drawing took, I finished my PhD to become a Doctor (in physics, I’m not that kind of doctor) and started a job as a research scientist. I started this in March 2023 and finished it 2 days before 2024 started. I draw when stressed or for fun and let me tell you, writing a 260+ page thesis is heckin stressful, as is doing a viva (thesis defence) and so is starting a new job!

Please give credit if shared

[pherryt]

Hey everyone - remember when I was recording podfics a few weeks ago? I finally got around to putting most of them up. I made a Pseud to do it and moved 2 older ones over there as well, so there are now 9 podfics (7 of them new) under my new Pseud:

Pherryt Pods

New podfics are:

By Pherryt:

A Curse Upon All Bards

The Hunter and the Slayer

The Promise

By @ialwayscomewhenyoucall

It's not the minotaur at the heart of this maze…

Under the Moon

Clint Barton and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

By @lovethemfiercely

Devils and Monsters

And Fandoms range through Marvel, Witcher, One Piece, MASH, Daredevil/Punisher, and BtVS/SPN/LOZ

They're all relatively small - between 3 minutes to 12 minutes of reading time. I have one more coming up but it's bigger (about an hour reading time and I have to fix one of the files) I don't know how often I'll be able to make podfics but I hope the stars will align again! In the meantime, let me leave you with a picture (or 2) of my podfic recording partner, who I had to edit out several times:

Also, Kudos to anyone who figures out where my Icon is from and why I picked it :D (I think the first will be harder to figure than the second lol)

Also also, thank yous to @vexbatch and @flowerparrish for the advice :D

[sandymybeloved]

other shows musical episodes have nothing on doctor who's. one very repetitive song, existing almost entirely in the narration, a part from when two of the main characters a forced to give a performance of it at gunpoint. peak television or borderline unwatchable, who's to say

[aflawedfashion]

I'm listening the the new Buffy Audible drama and I love that in this AU Cordelia is the slayer and Tara and Anya are her scooby gang

[bumblebeebats]

One thing that I really admire in long-form storytelling is when the writers/showrunners/etc. aren't afraid to make Big and Permanent Changes. There are so many series that I've eventually fallen out of love with simply because everything stays the SAME - no one ages, no one dies, no character arcs feel like they're ever really resolved. Sure, maybe shit gets shaken up for an arc or two, but eventually everything returns to the status quo. It feels like being fed the same dish over and over again; you liked this in S1, so surely you want the exact same thing now in S7???

And like, I can SEE where it's coming from. A story is a huge and finely-tuned machine, and it takes guts to just throw a wrench in the works, especially if your audience loved it the way it was to begin with. Any change, even the good kind (going off to college! Getting that job you wanted!) comes with grief. (What about your family - your friends - that old corner store across from your house with the ice cream you loved? That one coworker who you were kind-of-sort-of buddies with, but not enough to properly stay in touch?) But that's just life. And that's why I feel like I connect far more with stories that actually evolve, and show their characters evolving with them. Your mother dies. Your best friend loses their magic. You lose your sword arm. Your home burns down. None of it is coming back. The old times were good - but the new times can be good too, in a different way.

[thepunkmuppet]

disclaimer, this is from the buffy wiki and I have no idea where they got this information so it could be wrong, but in regards to the audible drama…

“ghost jonathan”??? hello??? the link just takes you to jonathan’s regular page, so it could just be because of his death and appearances as the first in season 7, but idk! maybe alternate universe jonathan is a ghost for some reason or we get our universe jonathan back as a ghost? no clue

juno dawson, aka the trans author who wrote the iconic “this book is gay” is in it! probably a minor role, but the idea of trans rep in the buffyverse makes me very excited!!

amy is in it, though she has been recast - probably an alternate universe scooby who works alongside slayer cordelia. a very interesting concept to me!

althenea is apparently a witch from a coven in england who met willow when she was there. she was only name-dropped in the show, so that is some crazy attention to detail lmao

olivia is coming back!! apparently in a starring role, although she isn’t on the main cast sheet. I would love to see her explored more, an alternate universe with her as cordy’s watcher or something would be absolutely awesome! but if she’s just there because she’s dating giles then i am not complaining, that man deserves a hot wife/girlfriend and some peace and happiness lol

that’s all I noticed, but if anyone notices anything else interesting or weird about this list then feel free to add in the notes

also apparently buffy will be mentioned, but definitely not in it as sarah has stated that she doesn’t want to ever play her again. bummer, I know, but at least she’s not being asked/forced to do something she doesn’t want to