We are so happy to bring you the December interviews with our Scoobies of the Month:

First up is Dynamite as our author: 

Tell us how you got into Buffy the show and Buffy fanfic.

When I was a kid, my grandma took all us grandkids to the $1 movie theater. 10 grandkids riding in the back of an old Ford pickup to North City. We’d stuff our pockets with Faygo sodas and Little Debbie snack cakes and sneak them into the theater. When I was 11, she took us to see the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Movie. I loved it! Team Pike all the way! (Until Spuffy.) I used to play Barbies. I’d pretend one of my Barbies was Buffy. Buffy and my Flo-Jo doll would battle demons together. 

When the show came out, I was in High School.  I screamed ‘Hell, Yeah!’ when I heard the show was coming out. But, I didn’t really connect with Season 1. Then Season 2 hit and Spike and Drusilla walked on screen! I was hooked… for a season. The show lost me completely during Season 3. 

In High School, I was a theatre kid, it’s a requirement to read and write fanfic. 

After High School, life, college, motherhood, and moving around the country took me far away from fandom. My career in disaster management has required me to live in places without TV or internet. For a lot of years I didn’t have the bandwidth (literally) for fandom.

Fast-forward to 2020, I was working COVID-19 response. I started watching old shows to destress. A friend suggested I retry Buffy. I binged the sh*t out of that motherf*cker! Season 5 and 6 turned me into a ride or die Buffy fan again. But, it ended too soon. As much as I love Season 7, the ending left me wanting more. I tried AtS, but it wasn’t for me. 

A friend of mine who is very active in fandom suggested fanfic. So, I Googled Spuffy fanfic. I’d say the rest is history but… 

July 2022, I woke up one morning without feeling in my left leg and half blind. Overnight, I’d gone from being an avid runner and long distance hiker to barely being able to walk down my driveway. Quick response and amazing medical care saved both my eyesight and use of my legs.A few months later, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS).   

I’ve regained my eyesight and most of the use of my legs. Writing Fangs Out and the Spuffy community helped me get through a stressful time in my life. I don’t know if I could have stayed as positive as I did throughout all the uncertainty and treatment without the Spuffy community. 

Where do you find inspiration for your stories?

Burlesque class, pole dancing, in the middle of a mosh pit at a DIY punk show, IM’ing Dirtaim, Discord conversations, music, movies… I’m an avid long distance kayaker and hiker and urbanex photography hobbyist.  I love mixing all my hobbies. I’ll hike or kayak 5-10 miles, stop to rest midway through and write and take photos. Often I’ll be mid-lake, in the middle of a ghost town, or up on a mountain peak writing smut. 

Who is your favorite character to write and why? 

Oh, that’s a hard one!

 I love writing so many of the characters, Buffy, Spike, Glory, Oliver Pike, Jenny, Tara, Willow, Angel, Angelus, Darla, Drusilla, Sineya, Nikki, Doyle, Cordy, Dawn… 

My mother had a brain aneurysm when I was 12. She was in a coma for months. When she recovered, her personality had changed. She is now legally blind and disabled. Me and my sister, who is four years younger than me, were passed around for a while there between family members so my dad could concentrate on my mom. I really relate to S5-7 Buffy and her relationship with Dawn. 

I’m also a 90s punk rock kid at heart. I am still very active in the punk community. I dropped out of college, and basically ran away from home when I was barely 19. I ended up working at a punk/goth club, where I met my sexy, tattooed, bad boy pool hustling future husband. Most weekends I can still be found in a pit somewhere. I love to write that anti-establishment, anti-conforming, violently hyperbolic, outsider protagonist designed to protect a romantic, soft center POV that is Spike. 

I also love writing Oliver Pike for many of the same reasons I enjoy Spike. His is Spike’s prototype. Unlike Spike though he isn’t given much canon backstory or appear in as many fics, so he’s a very clean slate. 

Which story of yours are you most proud of and which was the hardest to write?

That’s like choosing a favorite child! 

Use It or Lose It was my first fic. I made so many mistakes with that fic. I deep dive into Slayer mythology. It’s a complex story that deep dives into slayer mythology and retcons a lot of the holes the series left. That story holds a special place in my heart.

Fangs Out, The Key Saves Spuffy, and 42 were all a joy to write. Fangs Out was very healing to write for me personally. 

Sunshine and Who Said Love Is Fire felt so emotional to write because I could relate to Spike in the wheelchair at the time. They were such interesting headcanons to explore. 

Fireflite and Edge of the World are like writing poetry. The staging is so vivid in both of those it’s almost another character. 

Girls Invented Punk Rock, Not England is both a fic and a zine, it will have a little bit of everything. I am pushing so many of my boundaries and diving into my punk background with that fic. I’m probably proudest of the 2nd person fic within a fic in that one. 

As a writer, what would you have changed on the show and why?

Even though I prefer the show. The movie still holds a special place in my heart. Buffy is meant to subvert horror stereotypes and be a feminist icon. Unfortunately the show often failed in those goals. To push the envelope a little more, I would have brought some of the elements from the movie over to the show. 

Buffy in the movie isn’t a child soldier. She’s a High School senior. She is eighteen. 

There is no Bangle-style relationship in the movie. Buffy in the movie has  been reincarnated multiple times for hundreds of years. She’s older than both Angel and Spike. 

In the movie, Buffy is confidently and openly sexually active. Her friends are accepting of her sexuality. There is no virgin stereotype. 

Movie Buffy wears comfortable clothes to fight vampires instead of impractical female superhero trope style mini-skirts and heels. 

Buffy in the movie goes out of her way to say that she is like every other girl. She’s a reincarnated woman. Her origin story doesn’t have the consent or other problematic issues the show does. 

Of course, the movie does have its own problems. 

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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