and now for something completely different

So I'm working on making a neocities site. I'm using "working" here in the sort of vague, sweeping sense that means this is something I was doing before finals and plan to return to once things calm down again. This isn't a project that will be quick, both because of the kind of project it is and because I'm being stubborn and coding the entire thing from scratch. It's not as if i don't already have a lot on my plate, right? I'm only writing an entire radio show in my spare time as it is...

Anyways.

This is an undertaking of wholly self-indulgent proportions. Nobody asked me to do this. No one else cares if I make this. It's happening because I want it to, and that's all I need.

but what is "it"?

Yes, well I guess this is the part where I say it out loud: I'm doing a Buffy the Vampire Slayer rewrite.

Whether or not I'm a fan of the show depends largely on how you define being a fan. I can't make it through an episode without complaining about the stink of Joss Whedon that permeates the plot; in this sense there's a certain type of fan that would wouldn't consider me part of their community. At the same time I do like the characters and certain parts of the plot. It's just a show that I wish was better than it is.

Instead of a fix-it fic this is more like an AU where I was put in charge of the story. Whether or not this is fixing the story largely depends on if you think the changes are improvements or making things worse. For example, I'm making s1 Willow a closested lesbian with an unrequited crush on Buffy who ruins her first relationship with a woman by cheating on (high-school-aged) Tara with Cordelia. This may or may not be a "fix" to anything, but I think it's more fun.

except this isn't a fic, either

There are... multiple reasons I'm making a neocities site thing instead of just writing a pic and putting it up on AO3. In 2022 I retired from fic writing (read: deleted every fic I've ever written) because I got tired of people demanding updates for fics that were years in the making. So part of this format is motivated by how much I just do not enjoy the way people treat fic writers like content machines. Using an alternate format gives me something fun and open-ended that no one ever really expects me to truly "finish".

Instead, my plan is to create a sort of wiki type thing based on the format creators use when pitching a television show. In a way I guess it's a sort of epistolary story where people read the details and then put them together rather than just handing you the finished project. It feels like an easier way to organize information than trying to piece it all together into a coherent fic with actual prose. This way also feels like less pressure... idk.

But! There will still be plot synopsis to read as if it's a real story. They just won't be as detailed as documenting every individual line of dialogue.

This is feeling rambly now so uh tldr: I'm making a neocities page to post a fic outline instead of bothering to write out the whole thing. And if you wanna find out when things really start happening you can check out the profile here

while we're at it

In line with my last post, I should probably make a blanket statement that in the long run a.... not small portion of my posts will probably be about Buffy the Vampire Slayer. There's a sort of existential dilemma happening about whether or not I'm a fan, but I'm definitely enthusiastic about the show. Sometimes my enthusiasm is just enthusiastically not liking decisions made in it.

Whatever I am, I wound up making a dreamwidth account instead of a neocities blog because I realized I'd probably have more BuffyBlogging posts than real things about myself. And making one neocities site about the show is already enough. So here are some quick facts about my relationship with the show, presented in whatever order I think them:

• Every time I watch the show I stop before Tara dies and know the rest from reading spoilers
• Giles/Angel makes so much sense and would have hurt so much better
• That's the only time Angel is allowed to exist. Dead to me. Stay away from her. It's on sight
• Spike/Buffy doesn't have to be endgame but it would have been a cool dynamic to genuinely explore (two people in love with the only person capable of killing them is romantic idc)
• In general I just think Spike is deeply romantic in a fucked up kind of way that I'm really normal about
• (that was a lie, no I'm not)
• Why wasn't Anya/Willow a thing like that makes so much more sense than "I hate men but love Xander"
• Once More With Feeling was actually what got me into the show because I saw the individual songs on YouTube in the Olden Days
• Discounting Spike, who I like for less than noble reasons, Giles is probably my favorite because he's very polite but also straight up kills people when Buffy is too nice to do it herself
• Joyce's death makes me sob. Hard.
• Glory is my favorite villain but damn do I feel like all of her scenes are dripping with misogyny
• Faith and Cordelia both deserved so much better than the writing they got

Seeing as I am sort of the lone Buffy watcher in my life, if you read this and it seems like we're on the same wavelength don't be afraid to say hi!