It's Entirely Pointy... Why TDSoS?

 
What, exactly, is the point of this site?

At first glance, TDSoS is yet another Buffyfic archive. But I've tried to do something different here. (I had a little blurb about the lack of graphics here, but then Rowan redesigned the site as a TDSoS birthday present, so I deleted it. But I suck. She's great.) I like to think I have a discerning eye for quality writing. I also have this need to share my opinions, and to point readers towards writing that stands out from the rest. That, in short, is the point.

The longer story is a little more nebulous. I love fanfiction, and have been reading it for way too long. I'm thinking about six years now, starting with "Lois & Clark" fanfiction, moving to "The X-Files," and then to "Homocide: Life on the Streets". Along the way, I've read stories that were pointless, poorly written, average, and some that were clearly scribbled on the back of an envelope while the writer was on a bus. (Yeah, it worked for Lincoln....) But I kept coming back because occasionally I would read a story that made me sit up, jump back, and blink in amazement. These were stories that had been loved, slaved over, Beta'd like a zillion times, reworked, rewritten, polished and honed to a state of near perfection. Characters were alive and true to canon, atmosphere was written with a deft hand, the comedy was comedic, the horror was horrifying, and the plots were intense and carefully crafted. Some of these I read in the Buffy universe. And somehow, somewhere, I got the idea to give them a home, someplace where I could point people to some really spectacular writing. I hope I've succeeded.

So, how do you pick out the stories? And where do they come from?

I spend way too much time on the BtVS.creative newsgroup, I subscribe to several eGroup fanfic lists, I'm on the BBETA mailing list. That's where they come from. I don't solicit submissions because I can't guarantee that I'll archive the story, and I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings.

So, what is my criteria? Someone asked me that once, and it really flipped me for a loop. (Is that a mixed metaphor? Probably.) This is what I told him:

1. Obviously, darkness. By that I mean a new take on a character (i.e., "Wolfself"), an intriguing plot that takes the characters someplace different, like in "Essential Fragility", that ephemeral something that is angsty without falling into pathos. I want stories that show what the real life in Sunnydale might be like - the horror, the emotion, the underlying fear that must be there everyday. (Note: There's been a slight change in focus lately. Not all the stories here are "dark" - but they are all high-quality.)

2. Characterization is key. "Wolfself" and "The Brighter Cold Moon" are good examples of stories that depict a different side of a main character that we might not see on the show, but that can't be denied. In "Wolfself," Oz is written as pretty much of a sociopath, but still remains true to the show. Pretty amazing feat.

3. Grammar, grammar, grammar. I can't read something that has misspellings, poor punctuation, bad grammar, or where the writing is so bad that it completely destroys the plot.

(End self-quotage. How egotistical - megalomania, I adore me .. er, thee.) Having said all that, it really comes down to a kind of inexplicable feeling I get when I've read something really really good. And since I can't assume that I tingle to the same thing you tingle to, I have to find stuff for myself.

This is a pretty grim site, story-wise. What's with the pink?

I like pink. According to my friends, I'm "damn perky" and pink seems to go with that; I actually prefer yellow IRL, but pink works better on the screen. I had a previous version that was what I call "gloomy broody black" and had the visual quality of a fresh bruise. Ick. Also, I kind of grooved to the irony of dark stories housed in a confectionary candy home.

Do you subscribe to any particular 'ship? Favorite characters?

FAITH! God, I just adore her, for more reasons than I can say. She's sexy, troubled, butch as all get out, vulnerable... I'm not even going to go further. And, well, I have a soft spot for Xander, and deep in my heart, I kind of want to bop Buffy over the head with an uncooked ziti and get her to wake the hell up! I love Anya's sardonic wit and forthrightness, and I dearly miss Cordelia (she's gotten awfully cute and fluffy on "A:tS" and I miss her biting wit). Faith is a goddess, in case you didn't catch that. And Buffy... what can be said? Lots, if you check out the web. I'm not particularly a Willow fan, and I have no idea why. She just does nothing for me. As for shipperness, I subscribe to no particular one. I kind of like Buffy single, although B/S rings a bell with me. B/F does as well, so I'm just a big ol' mass of contradictions.

What did you use to create the site?

E-mail. Ro wrote and said "Hey, I'm bored. Let me redesign your site for you." I said "Just how bored are you anyway? Please, feel free." And she did. Go to the Site page to for detailed site info.

However, the previous incarnations were done by me, by hand. This is my first try at HTML, so I had to buy a book. I went with HTML 4 for the World Wide Web by Elizabeth Castro. It's excellent beginner's guide - I highly recommend it. For the graphics-that-weren't (namely a big pic of vampy Darla on the splash page), I used Paintshop Pro and Micrographix. If you want to see what can really be done with PSP, check out Addictive Stigmata. The whole thing was done with PSP, and it's breathtaking.

That's it! That's all you're getting out of me! Go read!