Feeler for interest in B/A - B/S ficathon
I have no business doing this as my participation in the past three ficathon type things I was in has been so harried and kinda craptastic, and I haven't even read the IWRY Marathon entries yet! But I figure it's alright as I'm just casing your interest...Actually sign ups won't take place until February or so (only if there is enough interest). Enough excuses! Here is my idea for the ficathon:
This ficathon wouldn't be for everyone. It would be for people who identify as primarily Buffy/Angel fans or Buffy/Spike fans. NB: I don't mean for people who only identify that way; for instance, I "identify" as a B/Aer, but I do love me my Angel/Spike and Buffy/Faith and Buffy/Connor and Angel/Wesley and so on, and I have read an enjoyed a number of Buffy/Spike fics. But if you ask me what my favorite 'ship is in the 'verse, I'd definitely say B/A. So ends the explanation of who this ficathon would be for, and the rest of you can stop reading.
The idea behind the ficathon is that all the people who identify as B/Aers would try to write a quality B/S fic, and all the people who identify as B/Sers would try to write a quality B/A fic. I was thinking that if there were around an even number of B/Aers and B/Sers, each B/Aer could get partnered to a B/Ser. These "partnerships" could mean various things, something as traditional as each partner makes requests and the other has to write to one of their requests*, or maybe the partners could kind of discuss their ideas and process as they write.
*I say "one of their requests", because I don't think I could do a B/S fic for the kind of ficathon where you write "for" someone and try to get as many of their kinks in there as you can. For instance, I'm not even sure I can write a happy B/S fic and be happy with it (just the way I'm wired, kids). But if someone had three requests, such as "happy ending!" "chains!" "Buffy confessing undying love!" I could take "chains" and run with it.
There are two main objectives behind this ficathon, besides the usual which are WRITE and HAVE FUN and READ FIC! One is that sometimes some shippers hide out in their nooks and don't meet people who ship other stuff. Which, if you're not cool with meeting people who ship differently than you, is just dandy. But if instead it's just something born out of habit you can be all adventuresome and stuff. (I do not mean this ficathon should only be for nook people, though. I am not a nook person. Perhaps obviously.)
Anyway, the other objective is something I was talking about with moscow_watcher, who recently participated in the B/A IWRY Marathon even though she writes primarily Spuffy. She said she thought that some Spuffy writers have similar styles--both due to the nature of the ship, and to the corpus of Spuffy fanfic behind them. I think it's true that many of our styles can be influenced just as much by the company we keep as writers as by what we are writing; a lot of times, in a lot of fandoms, you see certain trends develop for writing certain ships or circumstances--I don't mean just common fic cliches that arise, but even more fundamental ways of writing.
Anyway, moscow_watcher mentioned how she felt like she was bringing a lot of her Spuffy style into her B/A. And I think, especially considering the possibility that we are influenced by fic that has come before, this new approach and viewpoint could be really refreshing. We may see some things in B/A written by Spuffy writers that we don't see as much in the B/A by B/Aers we read. stultiloquentia and femmenerd primarily identified as Spuffy writers, I think, before Stulti turned into a recluse (not recently though! Huzzah!) and Femme turned into a ho (always. Huzzah!), and they have both written some of my favorite B/A tidbits.
That is to say, I think B/A and B/S are really different ships, and that we could both bring a lot of new insight and freshness into each others' fics. And since the shippers have been at loggerheads sometime in the past before I got into this fandom thank-you-v-much, maybe a little forgetting-where-the-hatchet-even-got-buried could be good and revitalizing for Jossverse fandom as a whole.
So, anyone interested? Just say whether you'd want to do it, what ship you primarily identify with, and whether February for sign ups and around April or May for posting would be good for you, and then we can plan and discuss some more. Also, pimp out to your B/A or B/S friends--even if you think someone could NEVER write that ship, drop 'em a line. HAY YOU GUYS, I got rahirah to write B/A! That means it can happen. Also, that I rule. Lastly, that your fics would not have to be long--though I might set a minimum limit at 500 words or so. That's not long, is it? I shouldn't be the one to set that. For me 10,000 words is a drop in the bucket.
Anyone?
This ficathon wouldn't be for everyone. It would be for people who identify as primarily Buffy/Angel fans or Buffy/Spike fans. NB: I don't mean for people who only identify that way; for instance, I "identify" as a B/Aer, but I do love me my Angel/Spike and Buffy/Faith and Buffy/Connor and Angel/Wesley and so on, and I have read an enjoyed a number of Buffy/Spike fics. But if you ask me what my favorite 'ship is in the 'verse, I'd definitely say B/A. So ends the explanation of who this ficathon would be for, and the rest of you can stop reading.
The idea behind the ficathon is that all the people who identify as B/Aers would try to write a quality B/S fic, and all the people who identify as B/Sers would try to write a quality B/A fic. I was thinking that if there were around an even number of B/Aers and B/Sers, each B/Aer could get partnered to a B/Ser. These "partnerships" could mean various things, something as traditional as each partner makes requests and the other has to write to one of their requests*, or maybe the partners could kind of discuss their ideas and process as they write.
*I say "one of their requests", because I don't think I could do a B/S fic for the kind of ficathon where you write "for" someone and try to get as many of their kinks in there as you can. For instance, I'm not even sure I can write a happy B/S fic and be happy with it (just the way I'm wired, kids). But if someone had three requests, such as "happy ending!" "chains!" "Buffy confessing undying love!" I could take "chains" and run with it.
There are two main objectives behind this ficathon, besides the usual which are WRITE and HAVE FUN and READ FIC! One is that sometimes some shippers hide out in their nooks and don't meet people who ship other stuff. Which, if you're not cool with meeting people who ship differently than you, is just dandy. But if instead it's just something born out of habit you can be all adventuresome and stuff. (I do not mean this ficathon should only be for nook people, though. I am not a nook person. Perhaps obviously.)
Anyway, the other objective is something I was talking about with moscow_watcher, who recently participated in the B/A IWRY Marathon even though she writes primarily Spuffy. She said she thought that some Spuffy writers have similar styles--both due to the nature of the ship, and to the corpus of Spuffy fanfic behind them. I think it's true that many of our styles can be influenced just as much by the company we keep as writers as by what we are writing; a lot of times, in a lot of fandoms, you see certain trends develop for writing certain ships or circumstances--I don't mean just common fic cliches that arise, but even more fundamental ways of writing.
Anyway, moscow_watcher mentioned how she felt like she was bringing a lot of her Spuffy style into her B/A. And I think, especially considering the possibility that we are influenced by fic that has come before, this new approach and viewpoint could be really refreshing. We may see some things in B/A written by Spuffy writers that we don't see as much in the B/A by B/Aers we read. stultiloquentia and femmenerd primarily identified as Spuffy writers, I think, before Stulti turned into a recluse (not recently though! Huzzah!) and Femme turned into a ho (always. Huzzah!), and they have both written some of my favorite B/A tidbits.
That is to say, I think B/A and B/S are really different ships, and that we could both bring a lot of new insight and freshness into each others' fics. And since the shippers have been at loggerheads sometime in the past before I got into this fandom thank-you-v-much, maybe a little forgetting-where-the-hatchet-even-got-buried could be good and revitalizing for Jossverse fandom as a whole.
So, anyone interested? Just say whether you'd want to do it, what ship you primarily identify with, and whether February for sign ups and around April or May for posting would be good for you, and then we can plan and discuss some more. Also, pimp out to your B/A or B/S friends--even if you think someone could NEVER write that ship, drop 'em a line. HAY YOU GUYS, I got rahirah to write B/A! That means it can happen. Also, that I rule. Lastly, that your fics would not have to be long--though I might set a minimum limit at 500 words or so. That's not long, is it? I shouldn't be the one to set that. For me 10,000 words is a drop in the bucket.
Anyone?