My first BtVS fanfic got nominated! Thank you! (And, WTF?)

[red_satin_doll]

A couple of days ago I got a message in my inbox that my first ever Buffy fanfic as been nominated in the 27th Round of the Sunnydale Memorial Fanfic Awards in four catagories: Best Angst, Best Characterization (Buffy), Best Gen Fic, and Best Quickie.

Comments

[kikimay]

CONGRATS!
I agree with so many things you wrote (Getting the characters right, no bashing) and I also ADORE Buffy and I have to protective instict towards her character and I always feel her so much, when I'm writing Buffyfics myself.

[red_satin_doll]

Thank you - and I agree 100% with every word you said. If anything I have to guard against an instinct to over-identify with her - and worse, to "woobify" her (which I think means, to pity a character? My friend novelist Kendra Saunders warned me that when you pity a character you do the character a disservice.)

But yes I have a very specific idea of who Buffy is, and when I run into a fic that goes against that for me, then no matter how well written it may be, my reaction is to turn away. (Or Buffy being completely robbed of her personal agency.)

Some of my favorite fics make me feel sympathy for characters I don't actually even know or even give a damn about. If a writer can make me sympathetic to ANGEL, then that's good writing.

[kikimay]

I totally agree.
In a way, for me, writing is about expressing yourself without really putting in stage yourself. I try to be faithful to what Buffy is, with her gestures or reactions, and, of course, I'm a very different person, but in some deep, emotional ways I can understand her and that helps me giving a part of myself. It's like playing someone, I think. :)
I believe you can't write if you don't open your heart to the characters, if you don't understand them, and I also believe that, doing so, you can also manage to be honest to them.
For istance, many times, in the comments of the fics, people wrote: "You make a very annoying Buffy" or "She's so wrong!" and so on. And this is a sign that I'm doing my job right. XD
I'm very obsessed with Buffy not only because she's my hero, but also because I read so many fics with Buffy-bashing that, actually, made me a more stronger Buffy-fan, but also intollerant to the hate. :)

[bogwitch]

Well done! I haven't got to reading the fic yet as I have been swamped, but it has been on a tab in my browser waiting.

[red_satin_doll]

Thank you! I hope you enjoy it when you do - and no hurries. I had no idea getting into this fandom how MUCH fic there was to read and catch up with. I think it's an impossible task.

[bogwitch]

I think you could read forever and never get thorugh it. I haven't really read much Buffy fic since I started writing it (2004?), and it was beyond my capacity then.

[norwie2010]

How awesome! :)

Congrats - and very well deserved, i like your Buffy very much (although the story hurts in all the right places).

[red_satin_doll]

i like your Buffy very much (although the story hurts in all the right places).

Oh thank you! High praise indeed, and I'm thrilled you stopped by to read it.

[zanthinegirl]

Congratulations! That was a really powerful story, and with a very unique premis. Glad to see it recognized!

[red_satin_doll]

Thank you! As I said in the original post for it, it was really inspired by two other wonderful fics, so I don't think the premise is "unique" but I think/hope the execution of it is. (?) I'm just floored by the positive responses to it.

I was going through my notebook and saw that I had written a few months back: "The good thing about BtVS is that I don't feel compelled to write fanfic for it." Famous last words, right?

[eilowyn]

Congratulations, and yay fic! I just read it, and had my heart torn out in the middle of the library!

[red_satin_doll]

Thank you! That is such a huge compliment! (Ok, I am a SICK puppy.)

BTW - do you know what ep your icon is from? (Or is it a composite image? I love SMG's elegance in it. And those two sisters deserver tons of love - I adore how fiercely protective they are of each other.

[eilowyn]

I don't know which episode it's from! My guess is season 5, but that's all I got (and I could be wrong!)

[red_satin_doll]

I'll keep my eyes open for this shot when I do some S5 rewatch, then. Although there is something somewhat S6 about SMG's hair? Specifically after she cut it short and had those tiger-stripe highlights?