Happy March! Are you guys enjoying the Short and Spuffy event? I can tell you for SURE that your SADmins are! And the WHEEL is amazing. So much anticipation every night on Discord! And the prompts are incredible, too! Thank you to everyone who submitted prompts! You outdid yourselves!

We are stoked to bring you our March SOTM interviews!

First up, we have our Author of the Month: Alyot

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

I first watched the show when I was a kid. I’m from the UK and the show played on Thursday nights on BBC2. I remember exactly the time because I was always home alone then and I watched it by myself. sometimes literally from behind the sofa because I was like 10 and it was scary okay?! 

I read all of the licensed novels because my library had them, but I wasn’t a very online kid so I had no idea about fan forums or fic. Then whoosh forward a decade or two and I rewatched the show in 2021, pregnancy hormones made me loopy and I got crazy over Spuffy. Turns out it wasn’t the pregnancy hormones because here I am four years later, absolutely not pregnant and still thinking about the show every most days. 

Where do you find inspiration for your stories?

Mostly I’m inspired by things that seem to me like they’ll be funny. Silly ideas like making Spuffy go speed dating or giving them a Magic 8 Ball. 

I am hugely inspired by other people’s writing. Reading fic is what gave me the urge to try writing it, and still when I read it makes me want to try harder at writing.  

Who is your favorite character to write and why?

I love writing S4/S5 Spike. I can get in a good flow with his voice when the humour, snark and wit hits right. Plus, I have more confidence in his slang and accent because he’s British. I reeeally enjoy writing Dawn, mostly because she is an excellent character for delivering humour and home truths. In a recent fic I did for SADvent I got to try out some other characters who were new to me and I have to say, I really enjoyed writing Willy, which did come as a surprise to me and I’m not sure what it indicates… I avoid Angel and Xander, I don’t know why but I really struggle with those dudes.  

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

It’s not complete, but I’m chuffed so far with my efforts on All Points West. It’s the first time I’ve written something that wasn’t trying to be funny; it’s more angsty and Buffy in particular is darker/wishverse-like. This is also why it’s harder to write but I have some incredible beta help on this story which I’m so grateful for. Also, it’s Spuffy as cowboys! Which, come on… Spuffy as cowboys!!!

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

This is the question I wish I had prepped an answer for because I’m sure there is something smart to say. There’s quite a lot of obvious plotty things that I don’t like (SR, Giles leaving, Tara dying, Anya’s undeserved throwaway death etc.) and there are things that make me sad (same list tbh) but I can appreciate them for the rich playground it gives us as fic writers. 

I do wish the show had done better by it’s BIPOC characters. It’s unrealistic for the show to be as white as it was and the limited number of Black, Hispanic or other characters of Colour were treated abysmally. I can’t watch Buffy mocking Kendra’s accent or Inca Mommy Girl because I just can’t suffer that level of cringe! What makes it worse is the writers show some awareness of this through lines delivered by Trick (‘it's not a haven for the brothers, you know, strictly the Caucasian Persuasion here in the Dale’) or even Spike’s and Willow’s lines in Pangs. 

P.S. I just want to end this by giving a shout out to marinaeulalia. She has beta’d all my stories, suffers through my appalling grammar and spelling and still reads my stories on the site and comments on them. She’s a real gem and I appreciate her support so much. 

Thank you, Alyot, we appreciate you and everything you bring, which is amazing. And we love marinaeulalia SO much, too.

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Next up is our Commenter of the Month: Apache Firecat

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

I was a fan of the movie and was absolutely ecstatic to hear about the then-upcoming TV show.

As for writing BtVS fanfic, it was actually I believe one of the first fandoms I actually started writing online.  I actually started with my first love, X-Men comics, but prior to writing fanfic, I was a member of several RPGs that all eventually died out... and which I was actually unhappy with for the most part.  There always seemed to be an issue with either people failing to respond in timely fashions (I know, I'm one to talk!  Again, SO SORRY!!!) or writing characters in ways I completely failed to agree with or even petty off-the-mailing-list (Yes, it was THAT long ago!) squabbles.  Writing allowed me to control all the events and to delve into the characters as deeply, or not as deeply, as I chose.  And, of course, to give them the endings I wanted them to have!  :)  (Isn't that one of the chief things that motivates all us fanfic writers?)

What motivates you to leave comments?

As mentioned earlier, BtVS is one of the first fandoms I started writing in, but since those early days, I've written THOUSANDS of stories in probably at least a hundred fandoms.  That being said, RL has a way to bugger seriously, and sometimes RL things follow us into our online worlds that are supposed to be our safe havens (sadly)...  That's the reason most people don't recognize this handle, because I changed it from my last, far more prolific ones.  Those who have been in the fandom for a long time might remember Kat Lee (KatLeePT) or Pirate Turner (OrliDepp was that screen handle).  Given the need I once felt to seriously DISTANCE myself from the old OrliDepp handle, I'm sure you can all guess just what nasty thing happened in RL that I was trying so hard to distance myself from.  :)

Oh, and to get back to the main point -- Being such an avid fanfic writer, I know very well what it means to know someone appreciates your work, and especially that feedback is often the only payment an author of fan fiction receives.  (Which is a main reason I don't like most of the social media these days, but that's a story for another time.)

Do you also write or are you strictly a reader?

I actually tend to write more than read.  My online time is just VERY limited these days.

Were you a lurker before you started leaving comments or did you comment right away?

Back when I had more time, I always lurked when it came to reading, but these days, I have an even greater appreciation of what we authors go through to try to share our stories.  And I SERIOUSLY wnat to see the Spuffy love continue!  <3  Plus, as much as I love to write him, Spike is one of those characters that I still often feel... shall we say, under-equipped? to handle well.  It's just something about my most beloved characters that makes me feel like I never (or hardly ever) quite do them justice...

How important is it to receive a reply from the writer when you leave a comment?

It's always nice, but I'd say it really depends on the story.  There are some stories that we write purely for ourselves and enjoy every moment of the creation process -- but there are others where we may be doubting ourselves or even our skills when we post.  And sometimes, it is very, VERY nice to hear from a reader regardless.  Plus, you never know, you may be having a dark day, and that one little line of feedback might be the sunlight your soul needs.

And, honestly, I've received some feedback, like on my very first BtVS story, all those YEARS ago, The Other Side of Christianity, that just stays with me and pulls me back into fandom every time I start to give up.  Fandom and creating are nourishing for the soul, especially for the soul of a creative person.  Too often in today's hectic space, we can feel too tired or burdened, or both, where we begin to give up those good things that we ourselves truly pull enjoyment from.  The reviews we do get can sometimes make all the difference in rather or not we keep creating, and they can help us to WANT to find the time and energy no matter what else is happening, even when we might need our creations more than our readers or our characters do.  I guess you might could almost see this as a Circle of Life for the Fandom World.  ;)  But seriously, feedback IS important -- it nourishes the writer's soul and lets them know they ARE appreciated.  <3

Thank you so much, Apache Firecat! We feel so blessed to have you here and can't wait to see what else you bring to the Spuffy world. 

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And there you have it! Thank you both for your awesome replies and all of YOU for being here. We appreciate it so much.

All the best, 
Chelle, Dusty, GetItDone, and GriefCounseling