We are so happy to bring you the December interviews with our Scoobies of the Month:
First up is Dynamite as our author:
This interview has been withdrawn to protect Dynamite's privacy.
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And now it's time for Pet35 to take the mic as our commenter:
Tell us how you got into Buffy the show and Buffy fanfic.
The first episode I watched was "smashed", so, obviously, I got hooked. I was 20 years old and going through my first breakup, and Buffy became a lifesaver to get my mind out of things. I didn't have internet or cable tv or anything like that back then, so I had to buy the DVDs to know what the story between Buffy and Spike came from. I remember having to ask my little sister for money and we still share the ownership of the DVDs because, of course, she loved them too.
As for fanfic, it's a little shameful, but I didn't know what fanfic was until 2020, during lockdown. I started rewatching my favorite shows and when I finished Buffy I wanted to know if something else had happened. That's when I found out about Spike resurrecting in Angel (maybe that's why I love reunion fics so much, it took me years to find out Spike wasn't dead haha), the comics, and fanfiction. With everything that was going on around in the world, I found a huge comfort in fanfic, it helped me a lot to take my mind off things during my pregnancy.
What motivates you to leave comments?
It's the best way I have to say 'thank you' to the authors for sharing their works and letting them know how much I'm liking their stories. Also (as many of the wonderful writers here already know...), sometimes when I read a story I just feel the need to talk to the characters and I do so through comments. Yep, sounds crazy, but writer's replies always made me feel safe to express myself however I needed.
Do you also write or are you strictly a reader?
I've written a few things, and I wish I had the time to write more and participate in events, hopefully, I will, but, for now, I'm mostly a reader.
Were you a lurker before you started leaving comments or did you comment right away?
Oh yes, I was a lurker! I didn't believe people would care about what I had to say and, I have to admit, I was very shy too! But then, I realized how much comments and likes mean to the authors and I try to leave them every time, sometimes I think that I leave too many hahaha and, other times, I don't leave them because I'm so eager to click 'next' and continue reading that I forget!
How important is it to receive a reply from the writer when you leave a comment?
I have left comments in very old stories that I know won't get an answer, but I do it anyway because you never know if maybe the author still gets them and likes to, or because I just can't help myself! But I do love to get a reply. I think it's awesome to have that opportunity to talk to the writers about their works, discuss their work, or just simply let them know what a great time you are having with their story. Also, getting replies has ended up in great conversations with the amazing members of this community.
I just have to thank you all for being part of such a creative, supportive and welcoming bunch of crazy spuffy lovers, and, of course, huge thanks to the Mods for making it possible. Oh! and congrats to my co-SotM Dynamite!
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Massive congrats to you both, Dynamite and Pet335! And a big ol' HAPPY HOLIDAYS to everyone at SAD! We're so happy to have you all here!!
Thanks for everything you all do to make this place so special!
--Chelle, Dusty, GetItDone, and GriefCounseling
--Chelle on 12/06/23 04:21 am 27 Comments
Raising my hand as a fellow Covid fic finder! I do think a lot of us came to this Fandom that way.
It's fascinating to read how you got here, Dynamite. I love your love for the movie, despite not really feeling the movie myself! I think because I watched the show and THEN the movie it just never landed and that Buffy could never touch my SMG Buffy I adore so much.
Pet, you leave WONDERFUL comments and I'm dying that Smashed was your first episode of Buffy. What a welcome!! 
@Dynamite - I'm surprised that season 3 lost you! The Faith/Mayor storyline was so intriguing to me, but I can see how everything else feels... less? I also watched the movie first and honestly, my favorite part was Paul Reubens. :D BEST DEATH EVER? Best death ever. And now I will always picture you leaning against a tree, mohawked out, writing porn. haha!
@pet35 - I can't imagine starting with SMASHED! Holy crap, that'd lure me right in, too. And, leaving comments on an author's old story feels just as great months later as it does while posting. Thank you for all your support to the authors in this fandom!
@Grief I enjoy the season now, and always liked Faith and the Mayor. The blonde middle-class almost virgin who is constantly being told she needs to be more normal and sexually repressed and doesn’t like to learn or read vs the villain alt lower-class sexually active brunette undertones of S3 is what turned me off as a confident feminist punk girl who wanted nothing less than to be normal. Buffy didn’t feel like the character I’d fallen in love with when I was a kid in that season. I was never a fan of her relationship with Angel and her focus seemed to be on that and she doesn’t continue growing as a character like she had in the previous seasons. If I’d been older, I might have been able to appreciate the storytelling or younger I might not have been so anti-conforming. Now, I can enjoy so of the great one-shot episodes in that season, but some of the overall themes and Buffy’s lack of arc still doesn’t sit well with me.
@Dusty, it’s a lot of nostalgia. It’s a comfort movie from my childhood and very much a product of cheesy early 90s teen movies. The movie is about at the level of S1 E1. I can appreciate both versions of Buffy. SMG had 7 years and hundreds of hours as Buffy. The show has so much more character growth than the movie and more compelling storylines. But, I think with SMG’s acting abilities and the phenomenal cast of writers, they could have left out some of those more problematic tropes that weren't in the movie and it still would have been as groundbreaking and impactful.
Such wonderful interviews! I love reading everyone’s origin story. I also saw the movie first, way back in the day, and loved it, Dynamite. And I’m in the same boat as you, Pet35, lurker to avid commenter!
Thank you @honeygirl51885! The movie is such a trip down memory lane.
Thanks so much for writing Fangs Out Dynamite! That scene in the plane lives rent free in my head. It came out at the time I had just discovered fanfic and it holds a special for me.
Pet35, I loved getting to know you during the march Drabble event. I am so happy to see you’re still around and active.
Congratulations! I love these interviews because we get to learn about other community members.
I enjoyed Dynamite's thoughts on the movie. I am a fan of the movie, but I was always focused on the campiness. I like the idea of Buffy technically being older than Buffy and Spike. This feels like a plot bunny.
Pet35, I really enjoyed your interview. My sister and I also watched the show together, but I own my DVDs independently lol. I feel the same way about leaving comments, and I appreciate all of your lovely comments. Thank you!
@all_chosey thank you! I didn’t think about much more than the campiness of the movie before I had to use the script for Use It or Lose It. I combined all the slayer mythology and am retconning some of the inconsistencies since we never got a solid set in stone mythology in the series. It’s really fascinating to compare the two, both the similarities and the differences. It made me appreciate both a little more.
@Tessa that makes me so happy to hear! 
@Dynamite - your enthusiasm and discussion of things from the movie has given me an inclination to want to watch it. First time I've had any interest in it. Not sure it would work for me after all these years of taking the TV show as my canon version of everything, but....
@Pet35 - It's wonderful to receive comments on stories that are probably 20 yrs old or more. Please continue to do so!
@slaymesoftly We should have a watch party! I came up with a drinking game last year when I was bored. If you do watch, don’t expect it to be like the TV show. Remember it came out during the Pauly Shore era of movies. Love that campy late 80s/ early 90s teen movie era, but it’s a world away from late 90s media. It’s interesting to me to see Buffy’s development as a character. I highly recommend the canon comic based off the script. Only a few lines and characters are different and it’s great glimpse at Buffy’s backstory and ties the movie canon and show canon together. (Unfortunately they took out Nikki from the comics, Buffy’s African American BBF in the movie, I assume to reinvent her as Nikki Woods.)
Thank you for sharing these answers, Dynamite and Pet35!
@Dynamite, I identify with your Barbie story a lot. Had I seen the Buffy movie at around the same age as you, I would probably have done the same thing. As it was, me and my friend had our Barbies play the role of Charlie's Angels and battle bad guys :-)
@Pet35, I can't believe you spent years thinking Spike was dead! What an awesome surprise it must have been to find out he wasn't. I guess you and Buffy have something in common there!
Dynamite even your interview is a great story ! I heard little parts of this story but I always love to discover this story again, with emphase on something different. (Not that I don’t respect your life or think it’s entertainment! I just love when you talk about your life).
I didn’t watch the movie many times (twice maybe) but there’s some really really good lines and scenes that stayed in my mind for a long time ! Season 3 lost me too (and not even because Spike wasn’t there)
Pet35 I totally agree it’s just awesome to have the opportunity to talk to the writers about their work or let them know what you think about something! You seem very nice, I hope I’ll get to know you better through sad or discord discussions
@Dynamite thank you! Your story is great! First time I known of someone being a fan of the movie first!
@dusty you are one of the authors that have read many of my crazy comments, I'm so happy you like them! And tes, watching Smashed first, how not become a huge fan? Hahaha
@grief counseling yeees, I came to the show just at the right time! Hahaha thank you for appreciating my comments ❤️
@honeygirl51885 you went from lurker to commenter to amazing writer!
@tessa I miss our morning coffees together! Live is just being a bit hard lately, hopefully I'll be more chatty someday soon 😃
@all_choseny I didn't have any money back then to buy the dvds on my own hahahaha now I have them at home but my sister still remembers she owns half of them. I'm very happy to know you like my comments, your stories are great! They deserve them 😊
@slaymesoftly thank you, I will!
@Double Dutchess I know! I didn't even know there was an angel show! I think maybe that's why it makes me sad (at first) when I read stories where they have been separated for a long time, I know how that feels!! Hahaha
@MoiraBarrie thank you for your lovely words. I'm kind of a lurker right now on Discord but I do hope to get to know you too 😀
@Double Dutchess our Barbies would have kicked ass together!
@MoiraBarrie thank you so much. Glad I haven’t overshared too often :)
@Pet35 there are a few of us that started with the movie lurking around. Thank God, Dolly Parton was one of them or we wouldn’t have gotten the show. Unfortunately, Whedon didn’t care for the movie because he’d wanted to direct and control it and the studio didn’t let him, so he went out of his way to bad mouth the movie. Because of Whedon, a lot of the fandom are quick to dismiss the movie and any of its canon after the show came out. Instead of accepting and valuing both versions of Buffy as part of the development of the character, the two versions of Buffy were often pitted against each other. As a fan in the late 90s, you were only supposed to like SMG’s Buffy, ignore that Pike existed, and disregard anything that happened in the movie.
Congratulations, Pet35! Great story! So many of us found our way to Spuffy fanfic during COVID you’re in good company. Congratulations on your pregnancy as well! I can only imagine how busy you are.
I leave comments on old fics too. You never know if you’re comment might bring a writer back to the fandom or encourage a writer to complete an unfinished WIP.