Comments | feliciacraft: Reading "Stay" - Accidental Fanmail to Anaross (and a Ficlet)

feliciacraft

Reading "Stay" - Accidental Fanmail to Anaross (and a Ficlet)

Mar 10, 2015 09:58

I was leaving a heart-felt but polite, not to mention brief review for anaross’s “Stay” on EF or AO3 like a normal person when all of a sudden, this began to pour out. And out. And out. In the interest of self healing, I’ve decided to unstopper this repressed memory and release it from the bottle. Because it would be way too embarrassing to post half of ( Read more... )

ficlet, btvs, fandom discussion, spuffy, ficlicious, based on a true story of my life, fanmail

Comments 17

rbfvid March 11 2015, 02:43:54 UTC

That's probably the reason why anaross is one of the few romance fanfiction writers that always felt right to me (as I mostly prefer gen).
Her stories aren't about fixing what went wrong and wish fulfillment. Plot of her stories isn't driven solely by "I just want them to be together", as in 95% of romance fic.
Not that there is anything wrong with shippy fanfic, it's just not my thing.
But I never thought how her stories could be percieved by a shipper, and you gave a fantastic insight.

feliciacraft March 11 2015, 06:08:25 UTC

Personally, and that's not the focus of this little vignette I've done in the post, anaross's "Stay" tormented me not because some girl doesn't end up with some boy, but because she takes a beloved hero of mine, a fierce, determined, undefeated warrior with mystical powers and a higher calling, and have her survive everything on Earth and in Heaven only to succumb to cancer(!), and to end her own life by committing suicide by demon.

But the message I intended to leave the reader, perhaps unsuccessfully, is that while a reader may be quite limited in what she can do: she can read, react, maybe think a few deep(er) thoughts, and lament or celebrate the story, as writers, we can do so much more: we can change as much as we can create. Like Buffy bestowing her power upon all potentials with the prophesied scythe, Joss, by allowing fans to participate, elevated all of us from potentials to actual writers ( ... )

rbfvid March 11 2015, 06:45:45 UTC

Yes, I totally get it. That deep urge to hijack your favorite character, and occasional outrage at the author(s), because „how dare they DO THAT to my favorite baby?!”
I sometimes feel stronger attached to fictional characters than to people I know in the real life. (Ok, mostly because I don’t really know them, and can’t get any significant insight into their lives, that fictional people allow).
And sorry, I didn’t meant to be codescending in my initatial comment (as it actually came out, as I re-read it). I really loved the way you described your emotional reaction. Mostly because I do get these moments myself, and it was great to see it written so well (yes, in a bit over-the-top way, but still great). You know - that „yay, I’m not alone in this!” feeling...

feliciacraft March 11 2015, 07:01:51 UTC

No need to apologize.

I agree with you about feeling a stronger attachment to fictional characters than some people I know in real life. We're simply not privy to other people's inner thoughts, the way we are to characters in a story or on a TV show. And yes, I exaggerate for effect. I think my life will be quite boring in a story without dramatization. :)

Thanks for commenting!

Tuesday, March 10 livejournal March 11 2015, 06:57:36 UTC

User rbfvid referenced to your post from Tuesday, March 10 saying: [...] [Fandom Discussion] Reading "Stay" - Accidental Fanmail to Anaross (and a Ficlet) [...]

rebcake March 12 2015, 07:21:17 UTC

Your vignette is lovely. Are you in San Francisco, too? Since I lived on the north side of Bernal, I always thought the park in the story was Precita, but you may well be right that it is Holly Park. (There did used to be a halal meat market on Folsom & Precita, you see.)

I don't remember my original response to "Stay", but I remember recognizing it as truth. I've read other stories - by lesser authors - wherein Buffy dies but her death and the aftermath didn't feel as truthful to me as in "Stay". In fact, the only thing in the story thats off is that the duplex is horizontal (side by side) rather than vertical. *local knowledge for the win* (At least there was no apartment swimming pool, like in the comics. Fail.)

Like Buffy bestowing her power upon all potentials with the prophesied scythe, Joss, by allowing fans to participate, elevated all of us from potentials to actual writers.

That's an apt analogy! And with great power...

feliciacraft March 12 2015, 09:51:50 UTC

You're too kind ( ... )

Bernal Heights anaross March 12 2015, 20:05:27 UTC

I've actually only been to Bernal Heights twice, once before and once after writing this, and when I went back, I couldn't even find the park that I remembered so well! So it might be a sort of Brigadoon park, there only for that one day I visited. I have this vision of a long sloping stretch of grass, houses all around.

But it seems not to exist, except in my memory! I can see it quite clearly... oh, well. It's an alternate universe Bernal Heights. :)

I think in a weird way, Stay equalizes that balance. They're always in rough balance, or trying to achieve it, and Buffy has had to survive Spike's death in many fics. In Stay, he survives hers. What happens to deathless love when someone dies? It's still there.

Anyway, I love your version. I have never been able to imagine Buffy happy with anyone but Spike (and anything but happy- eventually- with Spike). So your story feels very true-- if she'd survived, they would stay together. I know!

Re: Bernal Heights feliciacraft March 12 2015, 21:50:53 UTC

Excuse me while I jump up and down in a corner being all fangirlish, but in a dignified fashion ( ... )

Re: Bernal Heights anaross March 12 2015, 22:11:24 UTC

Hmm. That does sort of look like I remember, and it's not on the very top of the hill (I remembered/imagined it not at the top). I was just in Holly Park last year, and remember the view, which is pretty amazing. I really wanted to live there, but, well, Spike and Buffy's duplex (the only side-by-side one in SF! Made for them!) isn't available ( ... )

Re: Bernal Heights feliciacraft March 13 2015, 02:57:55 UTC

Yeah, IMO Buffy and Angel are just not a great fit. Both are take-charge, larger-than-life characters. Buffy is self-centered and self-righteous (being the "Chosen One" and all), and Angel is newly awakened on his path of redemption, and patronizing. Buffy would like to be treated as an equal, whereas Angel would prefer to assume the role of the protector or keep Buffy on a pedestal. Both have problems communicating: Buffy is prone to withholding love and into self denial, Angel is broody and mysterious. And that's without the tension of the whole precariously-anchored soul business between them ( ... )

Thread 10