Squee and Self-Pimpage Ahoy!
1) "Untitled" (AU the Gift)" was voted Runner-Up in the Best Drabble category in Round Four of the Absence of Light Awards! THANK YOU to the judges and readers who voted for me, and an extra special THANK YOU to brutti_ma_buoni and snowpuppies , whose stories provided the inspiration for mine.
The award button for it is really visually disturbing and may be a bit squicky/triggery for some folks (hey, this IS the AoLA we're talking about here) so I'm including it AFTER the cut. You're welcome.
[You was warned....]
I didn't prepare an acceptance speech because I really did not expect that, at all. This is not false modesty talking; if I had been a judge in that category I wouldn't have voted for my own story because there were so many fantastic ones to choose from. The other award winners in the Drabble category include some of the best Buffyverse stories I've come across, each one gorgeous and orignal: "Daisies" by spike_1790 , a delicately-drawn and compassionate portrait of Dawn's "bad habit", tied as Winner with "Stolen Screams" by Jane Davitt, a very original take on Angelus' torture of Giles through Spike's POV. "Le Petit Mort" by snogged , a hypnotic "prose-poem" about complicated connection between the First Slayer and an OC Slayer the First Evil, won Fan Fave in the Drabble category.
The entire winners list includes some of the finest writing and most accomplished writers in this fandom; Best Author alone reads like a Who's Who of Buffyverse writers. Congratulations everybody! (More hugs, cookies and cocoa!) Special shout-out to folks on my flist, including( I'm afraid I'll miss somebody): snowpuppies , velvetwhip , beer_good_foamy , coalitiongirl , brutti_ma_buoni , aadler , naughtynyx88 , deird1, pickamix, quinara, lynnenne , angearia - and so on and so forth. Hugs, cookies, and hot cocoa with extra mashmallows for everybody!
2) More shameless self-pimpage: Speaking of angearia, her comments in 2maggie2 's episode analysis of "Ted" were the catalyst for my last post, the meta about the episode for the Jossverse Big Damn Love Fest (DW version, sans screencaps.) I'm dying to respond but I have to wait until tomorrow when I have the 'puter to myself all day. I honestly wasn't sure about "putting myself out there" in that way - in fact, I was a bit terrified; I couldn't think of anyone I felt comfortable enough going to as a beta or even asking "Is this ok? Is it too personal? Am I going to create a shitstorm?" But the responses the post has gotten so far have been absolutely amazing. Thank you. You've reminded me that sharing stories is important and necessary; that thinking we're alone and no one else could possibly understand is the part of The Lie that keeps us separated from one another and interferes with our self-acceptance (Hey, do I detect the theme of another Buffy meta here?) You ROCK. This fandom ROCKS, even when, like the Scoobies themselves, it drives me up one side the wall and down the other.
And it also confirms one simple fact: I LOVE Buffy Summers, even when (and maybe because) it's difficult for me to love myself - and I love her from the first moment we see her in SD to that final hard-won smile in the sunlight. NO FUCKING APOLOGIES.
The award button for it is really visually disturbing and may be a bit squicky/triggery for some folks (hey, this IS the AoLA we're talking about here) so I'm including it AFTER the cut. You're welcome.
[You was warned....]
I didn't prepare an acceptance speech because I really did not expect that, at all. This is not false modesty talking; if I had been a judge in that category I wouldn't have voted for my own story because there were so many fantastic ones to choose from. The other award winners in the Drabble category include some of the best Buffyverse stories I've come across, each one gorgeous and orignal: "Daisies" by spike_1790 , a delicately-drawn and compassionate portrait of Dawn's "bad habit", tied as Winner with "Stolen Screams" by Jane Davitt, a very original take on Angelus' torture of Giles through Spike's POV. "Le Petit Mort" by snogged , a hypnotic "prose-poem" about complicated connection between the First Slayer and an OC Slayer the First Evil, won Fan Fave in the Drabble category.
The entire winners list includes some of the finest writing and most accomplished writers in this fandom; Best Author alone reads like a Who's Who of Buffyverse writers. Congratulations everybody! (More hugs, cookies and cocoa!) Special shout-out to folks on my flist, including( I'm afraid I'll miss somebody): snowpuppies , velvetwhip , beer_good_foamy , coalitiongirl , brutti_ma_buoni , aadler , naughtynyx88 , deird1, pickamix, quinara, lynnenne , angearia - and so on and so forth. Hugs, cookies, and hot cocoa with extra mashmallows for everybody!
2) More shameless self-pimpage: Speaking of angearia, her comments in 2maggie2 's episode analysis of "Ted" were the catalyst for my last post, the meta about the episode for the Jossverse Big Damn Love Fest (DW version, sans screencaps.) I'm dying to respond but I have to wait until tomorrow when I have the 'puter to myself all day. I honestly wasn't sure about "putting myself out there" in that way - in fact, I was a bit terrified; I couldn't think of anyone I felt comfortable enough going to as a beta or even asking "Is this ok? Is it too personal? Am I going to create a shitstorm?" But the responses the post has gotten so far have been absolutely amazing. Thank you. You've reminded me that sharing stories is important and necessary; that thinking we're alone and no one else could possibly understand is the part of The Lie that keeps us separated from one another and interferes with our self-acceptance (Hey, do I detect the theme of another Buffy meta here?) You ROCK. This fandom ROCKS, even when, like the Scoobies themselves, it drives me up one side the wall and down the other.
And it also confirms one simple fact: I LOVE Buffy Summers, even when (and maybe because) it's difficult for me to love myself - and I love her from the first moment we see her in SD to that final hard-won smile in the sunlight. NO FUCKING APOLOGIES.