It’s the news post you’ve all been waiting for! Ellie is here on behalf of the Mod Team to answer all of your burning questions about next month’s event. First things first:
What was the theme again?
BETRAYAL! (Not poodles. Probably.)
Elysian Fields is turning eighteen, and so, the inspiration for the theme comes from Buffy’s own harrowing eighteenth birthday, when she is betrayed by Giles and the Council alike.
That said, your fic/art DOES NOT have to be based around that same episode. So long as it’s a Spuffy work with betrayal as a theme, you’re good. This does not mean it specifically has to be Buffy or Spike who is the subject or perpetrator of the betrayal! You could go for a spin on canon with Amy betraying Willow, Willow betraying Tara, or something completely AU like Xander being betrayed by the cheese guy from Restless. Your use of the theme can be as small or as large as you want. So long as it's obvious enough for the readers to go "Oh, I see what you did there!" then your fic qualifies for this challenge. Whichever path you choose to take, we'd love to see what you come up with.
How and when do I post my story?
Starting as soon as the clock ticks over into October 1st (site time, which is Eastern US time—it's listed under the ShoutBox), you'll see a checkbox on the page where you add a new story. It’ll look like so:
Reminder: Your work DOES NOT need to be complete prior to posting. In fact, it doesn't even need to be completed during the event month. So, any creators stressing about the timeline, you can relax because you have the whole month to BEGIN posting your work.
Also: the betrayal does not have to happen in the first chapter, or any chapters that are posted during October. The only requirement is that betrayal is featured in your work at some point.
How do I find Challenge Stories?
Want to keep up with the fun? All betrayal works will have a little knife icon in the byline, as seen in the example below:
And you can find all of the betrayal works as they are added by visiting the Event Page.
What should my work include?
So long as your work features Spuffy, a betrayal, and doesn’t break any of EF’s rules or Terms of Service, you’re golden. You could make art, write a comic, edit a fan-vid, or write an epic novel. The world is your oyster poodle!
Written works must be at least 100 words long, but there is no word count limit for artwork-only pieces or narrative artwork (i.e. works that consist of both words and pictures, such as a comic).
Please remember that EF has a strict no-AI policy.
What happens if I don’t post my work within the time window?
If you don’t post the first installment of your work during October (per site time), it can’t and won’t be considered part of the October event, sorry.
Do I need to post the entire work before the end of October?
Again, no. You just need to have posted at least one chapter before site time ticks over to November (per site time).
What about beta readers and sensitivity readers?
We love beta and sensitivity readers and have a shiny Beta award they can win! Use EF’s credit system to mark their contribution or else they won’t get the award—and they deserve all the accolades for their hard work!
Can I work with someone else on my event response?
Sure! The more the merrier! Whether it’s writers working as coauthors, artists creating a collaborative work together, or an artist and a writer teaming up as a duo (or a moresome!) as deadly as Spuffy, we welcome collaborations for this event.
How do I get the art award?
You can get the art award by creating a banner (for yourself or someone else) or by posting a work that fits within our Artwork or Narrative Artwork categories. We’ve seen images, manips, gifs, videos, fan vids, comics, playlists, and more get posted, and can’t wait to see what y’all will come up with next!
If someone has created art for your work, make sure you credit them using EF’s credit system—otherwise we won’t know to give them an award! And DON’T FORGET to credit yourself as artist if you created your own banner or other artwork.
Are there rules for banner creation?
Banners should be no more than 920x300 pixels and include a variation of the text ‘Designed/Created/Written for the Elysian Fields Betrayal Event’ somewhere on them. Example:
Now that I have a gorgeous banner/other artwork, how do I add it to my work?
To add the banner to your story, you can upload the banner to your account in “Your Images” under “Account Info.” Banner images must be a gif, jpg, jpeg, or png file type, and under 1 MB in file size. Banners should be no more than 920x300 pixels. Images posted within chapters can be up to 1500x1500 px. (Note: make sure you add images to the chapter itself; any images in the Chapter Notes or End Notes won’t be added to ePubs when people download them!) You can also host your banner on an image sharing site or your own site, especially if the file size is too big for us to host on our site.
You then enter the URL from Elysian Fields or the image sharing site in the Banner URL field on the Add Story page, or click the Insert/Edit Image icon in the toolbar for the Story Text box.
NOTE: The URL you add MUST be end in the image file extension (.gif, .jpg, .jpeg, or .png) or else the URL will not be saved. Make sure there are no spaces after the final character in the file extension. If you are having issues with a specific image sharing site, please reach out to us via email or try asking for help in our Discord server.
You said we could add videos? How do I do that?
You will need to get the embed link from YouTube, Vimeo, or another site (which can be a little tricky on mobile, but not impossible—google for directions if you can’t do this on desktop) and insert the html into the Source Code. You can access this by clicking the Source Code button in the toolbar. Reach out via email or Discord if you’re having any issues with embedding videos.
Is there an event skin?
Yes. The October event skin is now live if you want to make it your default. Scroll down to the skins on the main page or in the footer and select the one labeled “betrayal” to switch. If you want to keep it, make sure you change the selection on your preferences page. (Otherwise it will change back to your saved skin the next time you access the site.)
And if you haven't seen it yet, the skin looks like this:
The banner was made by our very own HappyWhenItRains.
Will you be featuring regular works while the event is going on?
Instead of our normal mod-selected featured works, we will be highlighting fanworks posted in past years in honor of our October anniversary. Starting on the first of the month, each day will highlight a random assortment of works posted during the matching year of the archive (for example, on October 1st, we will feature works from 2006, our first year; on October 2nd, we will feature works from 2007, our second year; and so on). On day eighteen, we will change to feature fics that are part of this event.
The October Event challenges authors and artists. What about the readers? Won’t you think of the readers?
Obviously, readers deserve all the love. If you write at least 18 comments in October that contain at least 18 words (for any works here on EF, not just the challenge ones), you'll meet the requirements of the commenter challenge and earn a Commenter award! There will be a link to the comment challenge leaderboard on the homepage under the Members of the Month along with the All Star Commenter list.
Show me the awards!
This event’s shinies have been lovingly made by HappyWhenItRains. Lookit!
I’m So Excited!
We are too!
Do we really have to include poodles in our works?
No. Probably.
Anything else?
If there are any additional questions, please comment on this post or email us at elysianfieldsarchive@gmail.com. And get ready for some amazing new stories!
--EllieRose101 and the Mods on September 25, 2024 12:57pm 3 Comments
It is a momentous occasion, folks. Against all odds, our archive is on the cusp of turning eighteen!
Whether you are a commenter, an author, an artist, a beta reader, a sensitivity reader, or any combination thereof, the Mod Team invites you to join us to celebrate with our anniversary event, the theme of which is: Poodles!
That’s right. You’ve been asking for months, and we’ve been telling you for months. Now, don’t you feel silly?
Where did the inspiration for the theme come from? Buffy’s own near-fatal experience of being bitten on the neck by an angry poodle puppy.
RULES:
- All fics must be poodle-centric. Spike adopts a poodle. Buffy is turned into a poodle. A poodle is the Big Bad. As long as poodles are heavily featured, we’ll consider it a win
- Poodle perms and skirts are also encouraged
- Minimum 100,000 words, maximum 1 trillion words
This seems reasonable, we think, and we’ll be taking no questions.
Poodle photos provided by EF member yellowb.
…
All right, fine. The theme is not poodles (though if you work poodles in, we will applaud).
The theme, for real, is BETRAYAL!
Where did the inspiration for the theme come from? Buffy’s own harrowing eighteenth birthday, when she is betrayed by Giles and the Council alike.
Does your fic/art have to be based around that same episode? Absolutely not! So long as it’s a Spuffy work with betrayal as a theme, you’re good. This does not mean it specifically has to be Buffy or Spike who is the subject or perpetrator of the betrayal! You could go for a spin on canon with Amy betraying Willow, Willow betraying Tara, or something completely AU like Xander being betrayed by the cheese guy from Restless. Your use of the theme can be as small or as large as you want. So long as it's obvious enough for the readers to go "Oh, I see what you did there!" then your fic qualifies for this challenge. Whichever path you choose to take, we'd love to see what you come up with.
That said, please note the following:
- Written works must be 100 words minimum and include or address the theme in some fashion.
- There is no word count limit for artwork-only pieces or narrative artwork (i.e. works that consist of both words and pictures, such as a comic). If you are writing a multi-chaptered fic, you must post at least the first chapter during the month of October according to site time––no earlier, no later. (As always, you can see the current site time underneath the Shoutbox on the front page.) You do not have to finish your fic in October; you only have to post the first chapter.
- Awards will be available for authors, artists, beta readers, sensitivity readers, and commenters as usual. Artist awards can be earned by creating a banner for someone (or yourself) or by posting an artwork-only or narrative artwork. Video edits are also more than welcome!
- Please remember that EF has a strict no-AI policy.
More details (including a reveal of the banner, skin, and awards) to follow, but if you have any questions, please comment below.
--EllieRose101 and the Mods on August 17, 2024 01:11pm 13 Comments
Hello, wonderful EF community. As you might be aware, we are close to announcing the theme of our 18th-anniversary celebration event. Eighteen years, y’all! This community is almost old enough to vote! Or to be drafted! Or to vote not to be drafted!
But before we get to celebrating, there is something the Mods wanted to address.
Clarifying Constructive Criticism
We have always been a pro-constructive criticism community in the right circumstances; we have not, however, always been good about defining constructive criticism or empowering our creators to establish safe boundaries. This is something we have corrected this year, with a new definition available on our TOS page. It reads as follows (emphasis added):
[…] constructive criticism is permitted if expressly stated by the creator. Constructive criticism is defined as specific feedback with actionable advice. It should be delivered carefully and neutrally and focus on the art itself rather than criticizing the creator, their voice, or their creative choices. Differences of opinion, including but not limited to differences in characterization, word choice, plotting, or authorial style, are not considered constructive criticism. The Mods reserve the right to act on behalf of creators who receive unwelcome communications, public or private, that cause them distress. We encourage growth as authors and artists, but disrespecting our creators or their work will simply not be tolerated.
In addition to this, constructive criticism, at its heart, is respectful of the creator’s goals and delivered to help them better achieve those goals, which may not align with your desires for the work. It also requires a lot of trust between the creator and the critic; the creator must know and trust that the criticism exists to service their vision of the art.
We say this because we have noticed an increase in comments that we believe are designed to act as constructive criticism but do not meet the requirements defined above. That is partly on us. It is also partly because of the culture of expecting people to accept constructive criticism, particularly unsolicited constructive criticism, with grace and humility. It is also due in part to a common misconception that constructive criticism is simply voicing a contrary opinion.
Elysian Fields is reaching our 18th anniversary by nurturing an environment where we are protective of all our members, which we enforce through our strict content warnings policy and by advocating for creators when they receive disheartening comments. Many of these comments are written with good intentions; in fact, very few are not. Others may contain phrases that the commenter believes are innocuous (eg. “I don’t normally like baby fics because…”) that can actually be discouraging, as they typically include editorialization on a trope or theme the creator is clearly invested in.
How Fanworks Differ from Published Works
The stories, art, and other content provided by our creators are a gift. These creations represent our members’ time as well as emotional and creative labor, all to produce something they have crafted and shared for free, that we in turn get to enjoy for free. There is no distance between creator and audience in fan spaces the way there is in other media. We are peers within the same community and here because we want to be.
It is the difference between attending a potluck and going out to a restaurant.
Potluck contributions are made out of love with the sole intent of pleasing other people. It would not be appropriate to walk up to another potluck attendee and tell them that they have provided a subpar casserole. That is not the point of the potluck, which is to engage in a shared experience. Potlucks are things people attend because they want to; they are just as much about nurturing community and building friendships and connections as the food itself.
A restaurant, on the other hand, is something selected by a customer, paid for, and consumed with a level of expectation of quality and service. Even if everyone else loves that restaurant, it is perfectly acceptable to leave a subpar review citing the reasons why the dining experience didn’t meet your standards. The review is less for the restaurant itself and more for future diners. The restaurant owner might see it, might engage, might even take your advice into account, but the review ultimately exists to help other hungry patrons make a decision about where to spend their money.
In their personal lives, professional chefs might attend a potluck. Even under these circumstances, it is not acceptable to tell them their dish was missing an ingredient, that there was too much salt, that you wish they’d made a dessert instead of a salad, or any other piece of unsolicited criticism that essentially comes down to “I don’t like what you brought.” The chef still elected to invest their time, talent, and creativity to bring that dish to the potluck. Unsatisfied customers are par for the course at work, but the potluck isn’t work. It’s play. It’s a space where they are relaxed and sharing something with a chosen community. They shouldn’t have to worry about dissatisfied customers when they contribute something simply out of the satisfaction of seeing it enjoyed.
Protecting Our Creators
Ultimately, this all comes down to providing a safe space for our creators to share their work. The comments left on creators’ work have enormous power—they can lift people up on days when they need it, yet a critical comment can be crushing on days when escape is more crucial than ever. On truly bad days, it might be what provokes a creator to withdraw from the community entirely, up to and including removing their work.
The EF Mods know, understand, and appreciate that reporting comments is not something done lightly. Our members are very protective of each other, and many are reluctant to report upsetting comments out of fear of getting someone in trouble, even at their own expense. No one wants to be the reason disciplinary action is taken against another member. It’s not something the Mods undertake lightly, either, and we start interactions with a conversation with the member. Disciplinary action is the last resort after all other avenues have been exhausted.
So please, if you receive or come across a comment or interaction, on your work or someone else’s, that makes you uncomfortable, reach out to us via email, PM, Discord, or by using the report button on the site. (All reports remain confidential.) While many of us are chronically online, the Mods don’t have the capacity to review every comment left on every work. We rely on you to tell us what we don’t know so you can help us protect the community creators.
A Personal Story
Taking a moment to speak as Holly rather than on behalf of EF; in 2019, before I rejoined the EF Mod Team, I received a comment on a fic that was inappropriate by EF standards. One of the Mods reached out to ask if I wanted to report the comment, and I said no. I was only thinking about how the comment, inappropriate or not, hadn’t really bothered me; I was not thinking about how a comment like that could impact another creator. How receiving a comment like that might lead to someone deleting their stories and removing themselves from fandom.
Were I to do it again, I would absolutely have reported the comment. Most often, the sort of comments that cause creators to remove themselves from our space are not one-offs. Incidents that go unreported are likely to recur with varying consequences. Losing creators is painful for everyone and something we strive to avoid, especially if the cause is preventable. It isn’t always, and we understand and respect that. But when it is? Guys, that sucks.
So as we enter our eighteenth year and prepare to kick off our anniversary celebration, we ask that you help us, best you can, protect the creators that make this place possible by following potluck etiquette, embracing the purpose behind constructive criticism, respecting when a creator has not asked for constructive criticism, and reporting comments that you find troubling.
Thank you all so much, and stay tuned for the October Anniversary Event Announcement, coming soon to an archive near you.
--Holly and the Mods on August 16, 2024 09:43pm 5 Comments
Mystery Month is over for another year and—whether you wrote something, read something, commented, and/or made art—I trust you all had fun.
Big congratulations to everyone who took part, including:
- 34 Authors
- 28 Artists
- 30 Beta and Sensitivity Readers
Between them, participating authors wrote 811,537 words across 170 chapters in 34 stories, and 221 members left comments, of which 61 commenters met the requirements for an award. Comments on event works during the event totaled 1,666, and event works received a total of 2,834 likes during that same period.
If you’re yet to check out any of the brand new challenge fics, you can find them all here.
Many, many thanks to everyone who took part. All participating authors, beta and sensitivity readers, artists, and commenters should now have the relevant awards on their profiles. If you seem to be missing one, or anything else seems not quite right, please drop us a line at elysianfieldsarchive@gmail.com
P.S. Keep an eye on our news posts as our October Anniversary Event will be announced soon!
--EllieRose101 and the Mods on August 07, 2024 11:00am 0 Comments
Welcome to Week 4 of the Elysian Fields Mystery Month Event!
That means we’re past the Scream Tunnel and close to our own Elysian Fields version of Heartbreak Hill. Don’t forget to fuel up, drink plenty of water, and keep those typing fingers nimble as you face that last hill.
Reminders!
- This is THE LAST PROMPT to be released!
- The fifth and final prompt is Happily Ever After/Happy For Now.
- Your fic MUST CONCLUDE with five chapters.
- The end-notes for each chapter MUST INCLUDE the prompt(s) that were answered in the chapter and an excerpt of the prompt being fulfilled.
- Fics that do not update within the specified timeframe will be removed from the event. This means you have until 11:59 pm EDT on July 21 to add Chapter 3.
- You have until 11:59 pm EDT on July 28 to add Chapter 4.
- You have until 11:59 pm EDT on August 4 to add your fifth and FINAL chapter (and don’t forget to check “complete” on that fic).
- The commenter award must be completed by 11:59 pm EDT on August 4.
- All beta and artist credits must be finalized by 11:59 pm EDT on August 4 (are you sensing a theme?).
You can check out all our Mystery Month fics on our Event Page.
Okay, now without further ado, here are the prompts you’ve been waiting for! (What, no drumroll?)
WEEK 4 PROMPTS
- include a riddle (as suggested by squiddz)
- Glitter!!! (as suggested by tragic)
- Last night, I dreamt (as suggested by Bee_davie)
POSTING WINDOW FOR CHAPTER 4
- Start: July 22 @ 12:00 am EDT
- End: July 28 @ 11:59 pm EDT
PROMPT 5 ANNOUNCED
- Already done! YOUR FIFTH AND FINAL PROMPT IS Happily Ever After/Happy For Now
POSTING WINDOW FOR CHAPTER 5
- Start: July 28 @ 12:00 am EDT
- End: August 4 @ 11:59 pm EDT
As always, if you have any questions, you can comment below or reach out to us at elysianfieldsarchive@gmail.com.
The finish line is in sight—you’ve got this!
--cawthraven and the Mods on July 18, 2024 11:17pm 1 Comment
Welcome to Week 3 of the Elysian Fields Mystery Event!
Wellness check. How are you all doing? Mystery Month is a marathon, but we hope you guys (gn) are having as much fun as we are, especially since we’re officially at the halfway point!
Reminders!
- Only ONE MORE PROMPT be released after this week.
- The fifth and final prompt is HEA/HFN.
- Your fic MUST CONCLUDE with five chapters.
- The end-notes for each chapter MUST INCLUDE the prompt(s) that were answered in the chapter and an excerpt of the prompt being fulfilled.
- Fics that do not update within the specified timeframe will be removed from the event. This means you have until 11:59 pm EDT on July 14 to add Chapter 2.
Curious to see how the prompts are being addressed? Check out the fics on our Event Page.
And without further ado, the prompts. The random number generator we used plucked a couple more from Avery and Kliomuse, and since we didn’t account for that possibility, we decided to roll with it. But two’s the limit, guys, no matter how many amazing prompts you provided.
Also, the prompt says towel and should be a towel and only a towel in your chapters, but we’re going with a strategically placed sheet for the image. Hope no one minds.
WEEK 3 PROMPTS
- Buffy pampers/spoils Spike/William (as suggested by LovingWilliam)
- A strategically placed towel (as suggested by Avery)
- “My brain goes ahhhh” (as suggested by Kliomuse)
POSTING WINDOW FOR CHAPTER 3
- Start: July 15 @ 12:00 am EDT
- End: July 21 @ 11:59 pm EDT
PROMPT 4 ANNOUNCED
- July 19
PROMPT 5 ANNOUNCED
- Already done! YOUR FIFTH AND FINAL PROMPT IS HEA/HFN
As always, if you have any questions, you can comment below or reach out to us at elysianfieldsarchive@gmail.com.
Happy writing, all!
--Holly and the Mods on July 11, 2024 11:02pm 8 Comments
Welcome to Week 2 of the Elysian Fields Mystery Event!
Our Mystery Event is well underway! And authors, you still have until 11:59 pm EDT on July 7 to get your fics in if you want to join in the fun. Once the clock strikes midnight, the checkbox to add your fic to the event will be gone.
Curious to see how the prompts are being addressed? Check out the fics on our Event Page.
But we know what you’re really here for, so we won’t take up any more of your time.
WEEK 2 PROMPTS
- Spike eats a blooming onion (as suggested by Maxine Eden)
- Motorcycle ride (as suggested by Kliomuse)
- Midnight snacks (as suggested by Avery)
REMINDERS
Your fic has a HARD goal of 5 chapters. If you want to write more, great! But that’s sequel fodder, since more chapters should not be added to this fic (even after the event ends). If you want to write less, we get it, but that will likewise disqualify you from the event.
Each chapter MUST be posted within the allotted time window for that chapter to qualify for the event.
Each chapter MUST include that week’s prompt. (This one seems obvious, but better safe than sorry.)
Each chapter MUST be tagged with the prompt and the fulfilling line/paragraph/passage in your chapter End Notes by the time the posting window closes for that prompt (see the example on the Prompt 1 post if you have questions). We will begin checking and disqualifying fics starting Monday, July 8th. If you haven’t added the prompt information to your End Notes yet for Chapter 1, you have until 11:59 pm Eastern Daylight Time (you can check the time on the site under the Shoutbox) on July 7.
No NEW fics for the event will be accepted after July 7.
POSTING WINDOW FOR CHAPTER 2
- Start: July 8 @ 12:00 am EDT
- End: July 14 @ 11:59 pm EDT
PROMPT 3 ANNOUNCED
- July 12
As always, if you have any questions, you can comment below or reach out to us at elysianfieldsarchive@gmail.com.
Happy writing, all!
--Holly and the Mods on July 05, 2024 12:00am 0 Comments
IT’S TIME! Are you ready?
We have accumulated a LOT of prompts, y’all. You were amazing and creative. The Mod team reviewed and categorized everything that was submitted! Each week, we’ll release three prompts for you to choose from. You only need to use ONE for your fic to qualify, but if you’re feeling ambitious and want to go for more than one, well, we won’t stop you.
Let the Mystery Begin!
WEEK 1 PROMPTS
- Renaissance Faire (as suggested by Inevitablethief)
- Include Mr. Trick (as suggested by JayeMaru)
- Spike listens as Buffy Vents (as suggested by a member who wishes to remain anonymous)
The game is officially afoot, Watson!
How and when do I post my story?
Starting at midnight on July 1 (site time, which is Eastern US time - it's listed under the ShoutBox), you'll see a checkbox on the page where you add a new story.
***Please note: After July 7, the option to join the event will be removed. This is a TIMED event with strictly enforced deadlines.***
How do I find Challenge Stories?
Want to keep up with the fun? All Mystery Month fics will have a little pipe icon in the byline. Every detective needs a pipe!
You can also find all of the Mystery Month fics as they are added by visiting the Event Page.
What should my chapter include?
Aside from the prompt of the week, each chapter MUST include a line in the endnotes that identifies the prompt itself and a copy/paste section of the fic where the prompt was fulfilled.
EXAMPLE: Gone Switching by bewildered
This can be a single sentence or a paragraph, depending on the nature of the prompt and how you addressed it. Authors will have until the end of each week’s posting window to include this note. Fics that fail to include this will be removed from the event in real time, so put this at the top of your to-do list. The Mods REALLY don’t want to remove any fic from the event because that just sucks for everyone involved (and makes us feel crappy, even if you had plenty of advance notice). So do your part to make sure we don’t have to. We don’t wanna play Bad Cop (but we WILL).
What happens if I don’t post my chapter within the time window?
All chapters must be posted within the allotted time window to qualify for the event. Fics that don’t will lose the little pipe icon and be ineligible for author awards. For the first chapter, that means between July 1 - July 7.
Anything else to keep in mind as I start writing?
Unlike other EF events, Mystery Month Fics have a HARD cap of five chapters. In addition to fulfilling each week’s prompt, all fics MUST be complete by the event’s end (August 4th, at 11:59:59 pm site time) in order to qualify for author awards and remain listed as an event fic with the icon.
We know this will be difficult for some of you, especially since you don’t know what we’re going to throw at you next week, but it’s part of the challenge. And, we hope, also part of the fun.
What about betas, sensitivity readers, and artists?
If you have people helping you complete your Mystery Fic (either through beta/sensitivity reading or banner art creation), please use EF’s credit system to mark their contribution. And seriously, they need to be recognized. Think of all the work you’re going to throw at them over the next 5 weeks. They deserve all the accolades.
Is there an event skin?
Yes. The Mystery Month skin (called “Undercover”) is now live if you want to make it your default. Scroll down to the skins on the main page or in the footer and select the one labeled “undercover” to switch. If you want to keep it, make sure you change the selection on your preferences page. And if you haven't seen it, the skin looks like this:
Spuffy has set up shop just down the road from Detective Holmes. And we know Holmes is good and all, but our money’s on Spuffy to crack the case first.
Will you be featuring regular stories while the challenge is going on?
Following the first week of the event, the area where we usually have featured stories, we're going to highlight stories written as responses to the Mystery Prompts.
The Mystery Month challenges authors. What about the readers? Won’t you think of the readers?
Obviously, readers deserve all the love. If you write at least 15 comments in July that contain at least 5 words (for any stories here on EF, not just the challenge ones), you'll meet the requirements of the commenter challenge! You'll see a link to the comment challenge leaderboard on the homepage under the Members of the Month where the all-star commenter list is usually located.
Besides an amazing sense of pride, do we get anything for participating in the event?
Of course you do! As always, there will be awards for participating authors, artists, betas, and commenters. Please note, only authors who SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETE their fic will receive the author award. Beta and sensitivity readers, commenters, and artists will be awarded regardless of whether the fic in question was completed (they did their part, after all). So authors, if you want one of these pretties made by our good friend Trevor Carlee, on your page, get ready for a fun five weeks.
I’m exhausted. What was the prompt again?
YOUR FIC MUST INCLUDE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING:
- A Renaissance Faire
- Mr. Trick
- Spike listens as Buffy vents
When will the next prompts be announced?
Prompt #2 will be announced in a new News Post on July 5 and on our EF Discord server.
That's it! Go forth and create!
--Holly and the Mods on June 27, 2024 10:26pm 6 Comments
Mystery Month is less than two weeks away. Are you excited? We sure are! We have prompts in the triple digits and gotta say, we love the way you guys think.
ABOUT THOSE PROMPTS: You have until Friday, June 21 at 11:59PM site time to get in your prompts for Mystery Month! The Mods will then begin the process of categorizing the prompts in preparation for the launch on June 28th! You may submit as many prompts as you like. Don’t worry about duplicates! We’ll handle everything on our end.
Have no idea what we’re talking about? Click here to catch up!
--Holly and the Mods on June 17, 2024 08:17pm 0 Comments
Are you guys excited? We sure are! We haven’t run Mystery Month since 2022, following a community-voted decision to alternate between Mystery Month and Drabblemania for our July events. And the results were amazing. We don’t like to brag (oh, who are we kidding, we LOVE to brag!) Drabblemania 2023 was a huge success. That said, we think the community chose very wisely, because our original Mystery Month is an event like no other, and we’re excited to get back to it!
If you weren’t around in 2022, or need a refresher, here’s the crux:
For the entire month of July (with a little spill over into August), participants will create works (either text-based stories or narrative artwork) that are five chapters long. Each chapter must respond in some way to a given prompt, and the works must be complete at five chapters––no longer, no shorter––with said chapters posted within the relevant time windows (detailed below).
The prompts will be issued every week, which means you have exactly one week to write/create art and post. Is it intense? Hell yes, it’s intense. But is it fun? Considering you guys wanted to keep the event, we’ll say hell yes, it’s a lot of fun.
Your contribution can be a sequel to any existing work, but it doesn’t have to be. The only requirement, beyond what we mentioned above, is that it be brand-new, not an existing WIP, and written specifically for this event.
PROMPTS? WHAT PROMPTS?
So glad you asked!
The prompts will be provided by…*drumroll please*… You all!
In 2022, we shifted format from the EF admin-provided prompts to community-sourced. It’s more fun that way (and ensures the participating Mods don’t have the unfair advantage of knowing what the prompts are ahead of time). So you, dear EF community, will be providing the prompts that will guide the works we create.
But as we are benevolent overlords, we will provide one (and only one) prompt ahead of time. And that is the fifth and final chapter must be HEA/HFN.
HOW DOES THIS WORK?
As in 2022, you are invited (nay, encouraged!) to enter as many prompts as you like in our prompt form. These prompts can be anything – a line of dialogue, an object, a character, a color, a number, a creature feature, a situation, etc.
The only consideration we ask you to make in providing prompts is to adhere to the Spuffy wisdom of Five Words or Less for each prompt to avoid stressing out our creators. Beyond that, get as wild and creative as you like! Each week of the event, the Mods will use randomization software to pick a prompt from the list you provide us, and that prompt becomes your challenge for that week’s chapter.
Even better? We’ll save the unused prompts to source again for the Drabblemania 2025 Bingo Boards.
And yes, we do have plenty of prompts left over from 2022, but Elysian Fields has grown a lot over the last two years, and we want to provide our new members with the chance to contribute to the prompt list. It’s a great way to give EVERYONE the chance to be involved – our creators, our readers, and even our lurkers.
I ONLY HAVE A WEEK TO CREATE A WHOLE CHAPTER? BETA AND EVERYTHING?
Yes, beta and everything.
THAT’S SCARY
We know. 
SO WHAT IF MY CHAPTER ISN’T DONE IN TIME?
This is our most stringent time-sensitive event. The “This Story is Part of the 2024 Mystery Month Event” tick box will DISAPPEAR after the first week is behind us and any works that do not update within the specified timeframe will be removed from the event.
Should you not update in time, though, don’t worry. You are welcome (read: encouraged) to continue your work at your own pace. You simply won’t be eligible for the author award and are no longer beholden to the prompts.
WHAT IF I GET TO CHAPTER 5 AND I HAVE MORE STORY LEFT?
The intent behind this event is COMPLETED WORKS. So if you get to Chapter 5 and you don’t think your work is complete, your choices are:
- Make it a series and continue it later, with your Mystery Month fic as the first complete work in that series
- Remove the work from the event and continue as you would a regular, non-event work. At this point, you are no longer beholden to the prompts or eligible for the author award.
WHAT ABOUT ARTWORK-ONLY STORIES?
We thought about it, but we feel that submitting individual artwork pieces wasn’t in the spirit of the event, which is to work a narrative together through the randomness of the prompts. So, for this event, to keep the playing ground even for all creators, all pieces submitted must be narratives.
BUT I CAN SUBMIT NARRATIVE ARTWORK, LIKE A COMIC OR SOMETHING SIMILAR, RIGHT?
Of course! We hope you do! Submitting narrative artwork will make you eligible for the artist award, as will creating a story banner or illustration for any event piece.
YOU KEEP TALKING ABOUT AWARDS! TELL ME MORE!
Happy to! Wouldn’t be an EF event without awards. And this year, the awards (as well as the event banner) were designed by our good friend Trevor Carlee (for those of you who don’t know Trevor, he’s one half of EF’s favorite podcast, Another Buffy Podcast, an amazing artist, animator, and all-around swell human being).
Look how pretty!
AS A REMINDER: We now have the new beta/artist fields to submit with your story info. You must use these fields to make sure your betas and/or artist receives their award. Commenters will need to leave a minimum of 15 comments between the posting window (July 1 – August 4) that contain at least 5 words (for any stories here on EF, not just on challenge fics).
If you have to withdraw your submission from the event after posting the first chapter, any betas or artists who helped will still receive their awards.
SO ABOUT THOSE DATES…?
Here they are! Please note, all dates start at 12:00 am site time and end at 11:59 pm site time of the day given. Site time is currently in Eastern Daylight Time, and site time is posted underneath the Shoutbox if you ever need to check.
- Friday, June 28: Prompt One Announced
- Monday, July 1st to Sunday, July 7th: Posting Window for Prompt One
- Friday, July 5th: Prompt Two Announced
- Monday, July 8th to Sunday, July 14th: Posting Window for Prompt Two
- Friday, July 12th: Prompt Three Announced
- Monday, July 15th to Sunday, July 21st: Posting Window for Prompt Three
- Friday, July 19th: Prompt Four Announced
- Monday, July 22nd to Sunday, July 28th: Posting Window for Prompt Four
- Monday, July 29th to Sunday, August 4th: Fifth and final chapters to be posted
If you have any questions, please comment below!
ARE YOU READY?
START SUBMITTING PROMPTS!
--Holly and the Mods on May 31, 2024 09:09pm 5 Comments
The Mod Team would like to thank everyone who took part in April Challenge Month.
The site saw the addition of 58 new fanworks for the event, including 2 that were exclusively artwork and 3 that wove a narrative and artwork together. The works created and shared for the event were made up of 183 chapters, consisting of 505,242 words, and written by 45 authors.
Also, 27 artists and 36 beta and sensitivity readers got an award, while 58 members completed the commenter challenge, with 1,236 comments left on event pieces during April, not to mention 2,571 likes!
All awards are now issued, but if you are missing one, or something seems not quite right, please drop us a line at elysianfieldsarchive@gmail.com
If you have yet to check out any of the brand-new challenge works, you can find them all linked here.
Until next time, happy reading!
--EllieRose101 and the Mods on May 06, 2024 03:55pm 0 Comments
Hi all,
We have some bad news. We learned today of an issue posting from Google Docs on iOS to the site. Basically, when you paste the text into the site (or most other places on your phone that we could see), certain special characters are not being correctly copied, so when they paste you get something that looks like — when all you wanted was an em-dash.
The good (?) news is that this is a widespread bug caused by either Apple or Google, and not anything we did, and is affecting other sites, including AO3, and other apps such as Apple Mail, Notes, and so on. Unfortunately, this makes work-arounds a little tricky. Posting on desktop is currently unaffected by the bug, but we know not everyone has access to desktop. If that applies to you, then the best option is probably a free Office 365 account, but even here we found during testing that copy/pasting from Docs to Word that certain formatting such as italics and bolding were lost. Copying from Docs to Word to EF also created weird line breaks. Instead, we would recommend saving your Docs file as a Word doc by clicking the three docs from the Docs menu (not from within the file) and selecting “Save as Word file (docx)”, then moving the copy of the file to the Files app on your phone. Then, in the Word app, you can choose to open files from the Files app.
Copying from Word directly does still have some issues, including loss of formatting such as italics/bolding. Alternatively, you could paste from Docs into a text file, but that formatting will still be lost.
We are exploring more permanent coding solutions, but since this seems to be a bug introduced by Apple or Google, and occurs in a wide variety of settings on iPhones, we may be limited in our ability to solve this one.
For April event fics, we know time is running out. If you need to get your fanwork up and don’t have time for work-arounds, please email us at elysianfieldsarchive@gmail.com and we will see what we can do to accommodate you.
--cawthraven and the Mods on April 29, 2024 10:08pm 2 Comments
This is the final reminder for everyone who has posted (or is still planning to post) for our April event: please use the new crediting system on the upload page. And triple check that you have got the username(s) of your betas, sensitivity readers, and/or artists spelled correctly, including punctuation where relevant. This greatly helps the Mod Team and means everyone will be able to get the awards they’ve earned faster going forward.
--EllieRose101 and the Mods on April 29, 2024 06:04pm 0 Comments
This is a reminder for everyone posting (or planning to post) during our current April event: please use the new crediting system on the upload page. And triple check that you have got the username(s) of your betas, sensitivity readers, and/or artists spelled correctly, including punctuation where relevant. This greatly helps the Mod Team and means everyone will be able to get the awards they’ve earned faster going forward.
--EllieRose101 and the Mods on April 17, 2024 07:22pm 0 Comments
Hi,
In response to suggestions and questions from some of our members, we are adding three new warnings to the archive, for Voyeurism, Sexual Violence, and Torture (Implied). These warnings, like our other warnings, will be mandatory on new content published on the site. We encourage authors and artists to edit their existing works as needed to accommodate these new warnings, especially for works that are in progress. Please email us at elysianfieldsarchive@gmail.com if you have any questions regarding these warnings or any others; we are happy to answer questions, clarify language, and review content to see if a warning is appropriate.
Readers are also encouraged to email us if they are reading a story that is missing warnings it should have. We will confirm and work with authors to get the warnings added to fanworks so that we can all use the system to curate our experiences appropriately.
The new warnings have been added to the stories page and you will see them when you go to add a new story or edit an existing one. The definitions, which are also included below, have also been added to the Fic Tag Definitions page.
- Voyeurism: contains depictions of character(s) being observed without their knowledge or consent, by another character(s), often but not always in sexual situations or situations that can be considered titillating, such as states of undress
- Sexual Violence: a sexual act committed or attempted by another person using a variety of tactics, where the victim does not or cannot freely give consent or does not or cannot freely refuse. Sexual violence can occur in person, online, or through technology, such as posting or sharing sexual pictures of someone without their consent, or non-consensual sexting, and can include unwanted sexual contact or unwanted sexual experiences that do not include contact. This warning should be used when forms of sexual violence not covered by another warning is present in a work.
- Torture (Implied): alludes or infers torture of a character. Torture can be emotional/psychological or physical, and is defined as assault on a character’s mind/mental well-being or body. While torture and abuse can overlap, for the purposes of tagging your work, they are differentiated in that abuse is sustained over time while torture occurs over a shorter timespan.
In addition, we have edited several of our existing warnings to further clarify when to use specific warnings. These new definitions have been added to the Fic Tag Definitions page, and are included below for your reference.
- Abuse: contains the physical, mental, or sexual abuse of a character. While torture and abuse can overlap, for the purposes of tagging your work, they are differentiated in that abuse is sustained over time while torture occurs over a shorter timespan.
- Attempted Rape: includes the attempted sexual assault of a character(s). Rape is defined as sex between two characters where the victim does not or cannot freely give consent or does not or cannot freely refuse.
- Rape (Actual): includes graphic depictions of rape. Rape is defined as sex between two characters where the victim does not or cannot freely give consent or does not or cannot freely refuse.
- Rape (Implied): alludes or infers to a rape of a character. Rape is defined as sex between two characters where the victim does not or cannot freely give consent or does not or cannot freely refuse.
- Sexual Situations: includes or alludes to consensual sexual activity
- Torture (Emotional/Psychological): includes assault on a character’s mind/mental well-being. While torture and abuse can overlap, for the purposes of tagging your work, they are differentiated in that abuse is sustained over time while torture occurs over a shorter timespan.
- Torture (Physical): includes assault on a character’s body, including physical violence and sexual violence. While torture and abuse can overlap, for the purposes of tagging your work, they are differentiated in that abuse is sustained over time while torture occurs over a shorter timespan.
As a reminder, warning tags must be included for each fanwork when they apply, and all works rated R and above must have warnings (since it’s the kind of content we add warnings for that raises the rating). All warnings must be added as soon as the creator is aware that they will be needed. When adding a new warning to a work in progress, please add an author note explaining that you have added the warning and give a brief explanation why (you don’t have to include spoilers!) to help readers understand the changes.
Thanks all and again, we’re happy to answer any questions you may have via email or in the comments.
--cawthraven and the Mods on April 13, 2024 11:34am 1 Comment
April Challenge Month is just around the corner, so here are all the details you need to get ready. (If you missed the announcement, see here.)
Once you have picked the challenge you wish to respond to and created your work (either fic or art), you will need to upload at least the first part between 00.00 on April 1st and 23.59 on April 30th site time, which appears under the ShoutBox on EF’s homepage. During the posting window, a tick box will appear on the upload page that, when checked, marks your work as part of the event.
After you have uploaded your work, you must link it to the challenge you’re responding to. To respond to a challenge, find the specific challenge on the Challenges page and then click “Respond to this Challenge” at the bottom of the challenge. Click the link, check the box next to the story that is the challenge response, and click submit. If your work is not linked to a challenge, you will not be eligible for awards.
Please note, the challenge you respond to must have been issued by another member. Works that respond to a challenge issued by the creator are not eligible for the event.
Event works will appear on the 2024 April Challenge Month page, be eligible for awards (designed by the wonderful bewildered), and get a little umbrella icon beside them (pictured below).
Below is the breakdown of how to qualify for each award:
- Author Award: Post a story or a work tagged as Narrative Artwork.
- Artist Award: Post a work tagged as Artwork or Narrative Artwork, contribute illustrations to an event story, or create a banner for an event story. Authors must credit their banner artists and illustrators, including themselves if they are an artist for the work.
- Beta Award: Perform a beta read or sensitivity read on an event work. Authors must credit their beta and sensitivity readers.
- Comment Award: Add 15 comments of at least 15 words each during the month of April. (see below for more details).
As always, authors must credit any beta readers, sensitivity readers, or artists who contributed to their story. Please use the new crediting fields on the Upload page to ensure everyone gets their hard-earned shinies. The Mods will not check summaries, story notes, or chapter notes for crediting, so this information must be in the crediting field. Please confirm you have the correct spelling and punctuation of usernames, as some members have very similar handles.
Commenters must leave at least 15 comments of at least 15 words each during the month of April to be eligible for the award. Comments do not need to be on event fics, though we always encourage people to read and comment on those!
Banner artists: please add a small line of text somewhere on event banners to say, Designed for Elysian Fields' 2024 April Challenge Month.
Happy creating!
--EllieRose101 and the Mods on March 30, 2024 01:31pm 2 Comments
Hi, EF! We’re excited to announce some brand-new features for the site. As of this writing, we’ve incorporated crediting systems for artists as well as beta and sensitivity readers for our members to better acknowledge all the hard work that goes into creating fanworks.
When a creator posts a fanwork to the site, there is now an option to select the names of any beta readers, sensitivity readers, or artists—whether they are Elysian Fields members or not—who have contributed to the work. For artists, this can be someone who makes banner art, story art such as illustrations, or both. You can credit yourself as an artist, as well.
In order to credit members, start typing their name into the input box (pictured below) until the name you want appears, then click it to add it. (And repeat for additional crediting!) For non-members, type their name(s) exactly as you wish to credit them. In both cases, you can credit multiple persons.
Once you’ve added appropriate credits to your work, they will display wherever members see your story on the site.
We're planning additional improvements to this feature over the next few weeks. If you have any comments, suggestions for improvement, or bug reports, please send them to us at elysianfieldsarchive@gmail.com or leave a comment on this news post.
--cawthraven, DarkVoid116, and the Mods on March 24, 2024 09:54pm 11 Comments
Hi all! It’s been almost a year and a half since we added artwork to Elysian Fields and we couldn’t be happier with how it’s been going—over 100 stories marked “artwork” have been added to the site since then, and we don’t think that number is slowing down any.
During that year and a half, however, we have noticed that our artwork tagging could use some improvement. There’s some confusion over which tags to use when, and the “Exclusively Artwork” checkbox conflicts with our site events, causing headaches for members trying to add their artwork to events.
With that in mind, we’re rolling out the following changes to artwork tags:
- We are retiring the Artwork genre. Artwork is really a category of fanwork, not a genre, and this removes the duplication of tagging and reduces confusion about whether to use both the Artwork genre and category or just one.
- All works tagged with the NSFW Artwork category, the NSFW Artwork genre, and the Artwork genre have been retagged by the mods and are now in the Artwork category.
- A new category has been added, Narrative Artwork. Narrative Artwork is defined as a fanwork that combines written and visual art. Visual art is defined as a visual image or set of visual images including but not limited to drawings, digitally manipulated photographs, or videos. Works in the Narrative Artwork category must meet the criteria for story submissions.
- The Artwork category is now defined as a visual image or set of visual images including but not limited to drawings, digitally manipulated photographs, or videos. Words, if present, are limited and/or incidental.
- The Exclusively Artwork checkbox has been retired. All stories labeled using this checkbox have been added to the Artwork category if they were not already tagged with the category.
We ask all artists to check their stories and ensure they are tagged with the appropriate tags, including the categories for Artwork and Narrative Artwork as well as all the correct ratings and relevant warnings.
We're aware these changes might sound complicated, but we believe that they’ll simplify the process of posting, sharing, finding, and enjoying art on the site. If you have any questions, please reach out to us at elysianfieldsarchive@gmail.comor comment below.
--cawthraven and the Mods on March 18, 2024 12:28pm 5 Comments
Our Monster Mash event has ended and I’m here with the stats!
EF had a total of twenty-four works created specifically for this event, which consisted of:
- Four artwork-only submissions
- One submission that combined a written narrative with artwork
- Nineteen stories
These were made via a collaboration of:
- 20 Authors
- 16 Artists (including banner artists)
- 16 Betas and Sensitivity Readers
Between them, participating authors posted 140,033 words for the event across 44 chapters. A total of 203 members left comments or likes throughout the three-day commenting portion of the event, 120 members commented on or liked event stories specifically, and 32 commenters met the requirements for an award. The combined total of comments for the event is 476, and the new stories generated for this event received a total of 676 likes.
If you’ve yet to check out any of the brand-new challenge fics, you can find them all here.
Many, many thanks to everyone who took part, in whatever way you contributed. All participating authors, beta and sensitivity readers, artists, and commenters should now have the relevant awards on their profiles. If you seem to be missing one, or anything else seems not quite right, please drop us a line at elysianfieldsarchive@gmail.com.
--EllieRose101 and the Mods on March 15, 2024 02:23pm 2 Comments
It’s not long to go until EF’s next mini-event, folks!
If you missed the announcement about the Monster Mash, see the news post linked here. Or if you need a little reminder, the theme is Monster Mash. There is a monster in town* and Spike and Buffy team up to take it down. (*The fic does not need to be set in Sunnydale. Road trips and fics where Buffy and Spike live in other towns or cities count.)
The posting window for stories and art is one day (from 12 am/midnight until 11.59 pm on March 10th) and the window to earn the commenter award is three days (same start time, but running until 11.59pm on March 12th). Members can post artwork, drabbles, one-shots, or even multi-chapter fics if they wish, so long as they post the complete work before the end of the event.
As mentioned in the announcement post, there will be awards on offer for participants, artists (including banner artists), commenters, and betas.
For the commenting award, you’ll need to make 10 comments of at least 15 words during the previously stated three-day window. Event deadlines are based on site time, which is always listed just under the Shoutbox on EF’s homepage.
Anyone who submits an artwork-only piece will be eligible for both an author and artist award.
Banners should include the words "Designed for the Elysian Fields 2024 Monster Mash Event" in small, yet legible text.
During the posting window, when you go to add a new work, a tickbox will appear as depicted in the screenshot below. Ticking said box marks your work as officially part of the event (meaning it’s listed on the dedicated event page), generates a special event icon to appear beside your work title, and makes you eligible for awards (above, designed by the wonderful ClowniestLivEver, who also suggested the event theme).
Note: If you are ticking the event box, ignore the ‘artwork only’ tickbox even if it would usually apply. This is because only one tickbox can be applied to each work. If you accidentally tick the artwork only box, or tick both boxes, contact a member of the Mod Team and we will correct it on the backend of the site.
Also remember: credit your beta(s) and/or banner artist(s) if you use them! If you made your own banner and want your artist award, please tell us in the story notes that you made it. (The Mod Team has many talents, but being psychic is sadly not one of them.)
Any other questions in the meantime, you know the drill: comment below!
--EllieRose101 and the Mods on March 04, 2024 01:31pm 2 Comments
Hi everyone! This has been a long time coming, but we’ve fixed our email issues so that we no longer have to worry about a limit on how many emails we send a day. With that in mind, we will be restoring the Daily Digest emails.
Please make sure you have a valid email address listed before you sign up for emails! This means check the email you have on file with the site for typos and make sure the inbox isn’t full.
What’s the Daily Digest? The Daily Digest is a daily email sent to the account you have on file that rounds up every news post and every new and updated fic from the day before right in your inbox.
That sounds cool! How do I sign up for it? If you’re not currently signed up for the Daily Digest and want to be, you can go to Account Info > Edit Preferences to enable the Digest under “Email Settings/Alerts.” Check the box for the digest and hit Submit at the bottom of the form.
What are these other checkboxes here for? These control the other kinds of emails you can get from the site. You can sign up to get notifications when a favorite author posts a new story or a favorite story gets a new chapter, get an email when an author responds to a comment you left them, or when someone comments on one of your stories.
That sounds neat, but I want to get fewer emails/I don’t want to get these notifications anymore. How do I turn emails off? You can turn emails off in Account Info > Edit Preferences. Just make sure all the boxes for email alerts are unchecked. Please note: this does not affect private message notifications or password reset emails.
If you have any questions or issues (about email or anything else) please reach out to us at elysianfieldsarchive@gmail.com so we can help get it sorted out for you.
--cawthraven and the Mods on February 29, 2024 11:06pm 2 Comments
Can you believe it’s almost that time of year again?
For the month of April, EF will once again be running our Challenge Month event. Your task––should you choose to accept it––is to respond to challenges issued to our site by your fellow members (see here). You don’t have to complete the fic (or art) by the end of the month, just post the first installment between midnight on April 1st and 23.59 on April 30th (site time).
You can respond to as many challenges or as few as you want––so long as you didn’t issue them yourself!
If you find a challenge that mostly speaks to you but you would like to change an element of it, we recommend that you contact the person who issued said challenge and ask for their permission/blessing.
Any other questions or queries, please comment below or contact one of the Mod Team directly via email at elysianfieldsarchive@gmail.com. Further details including what the awards for authors, commenters, betas, and artists will look like will be posted closer to the time.
--EllieRose101 and the Mods on February 21, 2024 07:40pm 5 Comments
Hi all!
We’ve been working on an update to our beta profiles and beta search to include sensitivity readers.
If the term is new to you, a sensitivity reader is a specialized type of beta reader who holds a lived experience or marginalized identity that the author does not, but that the author intends to portray within their fic.
Sensitivity readers can help authors write in ways that are more authentic and representative of the experiences of others. With that in mind, we’ve added a section to the beta profile that allows members to opt in as a sensitivity reader and indicate the kinds of topics and themes they can help review. We’ve revised our guidelines on working with beta readers. Among other changes, the guidelines now specifically feature tips on working with sensitivity readers, including when you might want to reach out to one.
A number of pages have changed to support this. First up is the Edit Beta and Sensitivity Reader Profile, which you can find in Account Info. You can opt in or out of beta reading and sensitivity reading here.
Unlike our beta strengths section, we have included a text box for sensitivity reading strengths, since there are a range of topics that someone might be suited to sensitivity read for, and all of them require nuanced discussion.
These beta profiles are available on our Betas page (see the menu for the link; it’s under “Members” on mobile).
You can browse all of the profiles from here, or you can search for a beta or sensitivity reader who is currently accepting new stories through our Beta and Sensitivity Reader Search. (We're currently working out a few kinks with search, so please let us know if you have any issues with it!)
This will let you find the beta and sensitivity readers best suited to help you.
We’d like to thank Dynamite for suggesting this addition to the site, which we feel will help our writers, as well as trevino, who was instrumental in helping us craft a definition for sensitivity readers and in revising the guidelines.
--cawthraven, Darkvoid116, and the Mods on February 17, 2024 03:00pm 3 Comments
After the success of EF’s first mini-event, the Satisfaction-athon last year, we have decided to run another one. Again, it will be for one day only, but this time the theme is Monster Mash and the date will be March 10th.
Credit for the theme idea goes to ClowniestLivEver, who implanted it in the Mod Team’s minds many months ago.
To clarify the theme: There is a monster in town* and Spike and Buffy team up to take it down. (*The fic does not need to be set in Sunnydale. Road trip fics count.)
The monster or monsters, plural, can be from the show (literally any of the minor monster-of-the-weeks. e.g. Luke, the Gorch brothers, Amy's mom, etc.); a classical monster (Frankenstein's monster, Wolf Man, the Invisible Man); a monster that is both (Dracula); or an original character monster.
Members can post artwork, drabbles, one-shots, or even multi-chapter fics if they wish, so long as they post the complete work before the end of the event. There will be awards on offer for participants, artists (including banner artists), commenters, and betas, which we will reveal the artwork for closer to the time.
Anyone who submits an artwork-only piece will be eligible for both a participant and artist award.
Commenters must leave a minimum of ten comments of at least fifteen words during the three days (72 hours) following event kick-off, i.e. 00:00 (12:00 am) on March 10th until 23:59 (11:59 pm) on March 12th, according to site time (which you can check under the ShoutBox on EF’s homepage).
--EllieRose101 and the Mods on January 08, 2024 05:24pm 10 Comments
Hello EF!
The Mod team has hit you with a lot of information recently, and we’re about to pile on more, for which we apologize but hey, it’s all good stuff.
Those of you who were active last year might recall that we retired a number of skins, including some that dated back to EF’s launch in 2006. These skins were replaced with a selection of new skins created with the support of some of the amazing artists that comprise our current membership.
While perfectly functional, there were a few glitches in the new skins resulting from inherited issues from older programming and the shift in border size for desktop users. Lucky for us, these kinks were ironed out in mid-2023 by cawthraven with the creation of the Drabblemania skin. One of our goals was to implement the improvements to all the 2022-era skins before the end of the year. As of today, that has been done. Members who are using a skin developed in 2022 might notice small changes upon flushing your cache, but the result should be an improved user experience.
We have likewise added five new skins: two by cd85, and three by bewildered, one of which showcases the logo we had commissioned earlier this year, and another that uses the same main color scheme of the retired skin not without a fight* by popular request. These banners have also been added to the rotating banner for our 1,000 authors celebration.
The new skins are:
- a little romance (artwork by cd85)
- celestial (artwork by bewildered)
- date night (artwork by cd85)
- elysian (artwork by bewildered)
- his hero (artwork by bewildered)*
Thank you to our artists who keep Elysian Fields beautiful with your artwork. We are so lucky to have such amazing talent within our community.
--Holly and the Mods on January 05, 2024 12:36pm 11 Comments
Hello EF! It’s officially a new year, which means it’s time to look back on the completion of our last trip around the sun together.
And what a trip it’s been! The last twelve months have been rife with changes for the archive—amazing changes. In fact, I started this post by revisiting our 2022: A Year In Review post from last year, reviewing some of the initiatives we planned to undertake. Just the tip of the iceberg, really.
In 2023, accomplishments include:
- Introducing Finishing Months, which will return in 2025
- Launching EF’s first mini-event
- Introducing Drabblemania, a spin on our July event
- Ironing out many of the kinks remaining after our former host’s March 2022 update, such as finally returning the site to Eastern Time
- Ditching that host for a brand-new host home that we love
- Establishing Elysian Fields as a not-for-profit
- Creating the first logo in the site’s 17-year history, courtesy of amazing triple-threat bewildered
- Reaching the milestone of 1,000 authors
- Introducing a new commenting award, inspired by the commenting machine Magnus374, and attainable by any member who leaves 1,000 comments or more in a single month. Since then, another member has joined the ranks: violettathepiratequeen! We also retroactively applied this award to any member who has achieved it in the site's history.
And really, y’all, so many other things. It’s been hard to keep track of all the improvements and changes that have been made this year, large and small. We’re not slowing down, either. Already we’ve announced new awards: Star Commenter Award, the Superstar Commenter Award, and the Artist of the Month Award. There is a lot more coming in the way of improvements and updates, so stay tuned because our team has been busy.
Speaking of our team, one of the best things that happened to EF in 2023 was the addition of cawthraven to the Mod team. Even before she was an official Mod, she was working closely with DarkVoid116 to help troubleshoot, implement, and roll out many behind-the-scenes improvements and updates. Suffice it to say, that has continued.
And all while we continued the proud history of site events, with Finishing Months in January-March, the Satisfaction-athon in February, Challenge Month in April, Drabblemania in July, the Truce Challenge in October for the site’s anniversary, and our fourth Secret Santa Fic Exchange. Once again, you guys blew our expectations out of the water.
So are you ready for awards?
In the fourth year of recognizing the milestone that is Completed Fics, we had 113 authors complete a total of 612 fics; that’s a staggering 225 more fics than last year.
All authors who completed a fic (one-shots count!) in 2023 have been issued this award:
The other award seeing its fourth year is the Event Complete Award (formerly the Challenge Complete Award). This was awarded to site members who completed any site event challenge in 2023 (that is, the challenge events that are overseen by the EF Mods and come with spiffy thematic skins and stuff). The exception here being Secret Santa, as finishing the fic is baked into the challenge itself.
And speaking of Secret Santa, we have some numbers to share.
We had 44 event contributions, which have garnered 1124 likes and 539 comments. All participants who completed their fics and/or art should now have their participant award on their profile.
P.S. If you haven't read the fics yet, you can find them all on the Secret Santa event page, which is also accessible by going to Events >> 2023 Secret Santa.
We also have issued awards to our most prolific members. These are chosen by the numbers.
In 2023, we added:
- 10,328,329 words
- 729 stories
- 5,430 chapters
- 1,654 new members
- 120,624 new likes
- 49,227 new comments to the archive (comprising 2,096,789 words)
Top 10 Commenters
- magnus374 (195,698 words)* (Recipient of Most Prolific Commenter Award 2023)
- Nightcandle (186,360 words)
- violettathepiratequeen (114,845 words)
- swonderful (108,290 words)
- Green (99,988 words)
- pfeifferpack (91,802 words)
- All4Spike (71,625 words)
- bmerb (66,024 words)
- The Danish Bird (49,244 words)
- acekoomboom (49,002 words)
Top 10 Authors
- scratchmeout (458,340 words)* (Recipient of Most Prolific Author Award 2023)
- Holly (414,070 words)
- RavenLove12 (365,302 words)
- Geliot99 (331,713 words)
- honeygirl51885 (312,928 words)
- all_choseny (285,868 words)
- acb6293 (272,588 words)
- Desicat (246,564 words)
- ClowniestLiveEver (244,439 words)
- CheekyKitten (241,374 words)
Our most prolific author for 2023 was scratchmeout (again!)
Our most prolific commenter for 2023 was magnus374 (again)!
If you are missing an award you should have received, please reach out to us (elysianfieldsarchive@gmail.com) and we’ll verify and get that corrected.
Folks, we had an amazing year. Thank you all so much for what you give to our wonderful community. We eagerly await the amazing contributions we know you will make to the archive as we celebrate another year of Spuffy. And we’re just getting started.
--Holly and the Mods on January 03, 2024 10:07pm 7 Comments
Hey, Spuffy fans! We have some brand new awards to announce for the new year.
Here at Elysian Fields, we’re always thinking of new ways to get all of our members involved in the community. During our Event Months, we give out Commenter Awards to members who fulfill specific requirements. You may have noticed that, when there isn’t an event, there is a page for All Star Commenters linked in the Members of the Month section. Anyone who leaves at least 15 comments of 5 or more words in a month qualifies for this status.
To that end, we're introducing two new commenting awards, both designed by the talented cd85.
The first, the Star Commenter, will be awarded to any member who is an All Star Commenter in at least six of a year’s twelve months.
The second, the Superstar Commenter, requires that a member reach All Star commenter status in all twelve months.
If you qualify for the Superstar Commenter, you’ll also receive the Star Commenter award as well.
During event months, you will still only need 15 comments with 5 or more words for the month to count toward these awards, even if, for example, the April Challenge Month Commenter Award requires 15 comments with 15 or more words.
Starting January 1, 2024, a page tracking progress toward these awards will be linked in the Members of the Month section of the homepage. You can see the page here with 2023 stats. They will be refreshed for 2024 on January 1.
That’s all for now. Please let us know if you have any questions about how these awards work.
--Dark and the Mods on December 29, 2023 10:11pm 7 Comments
Hey everyone! You may have noticed we just hit one thousand authors on the site—a huge milestone for our little archive. We couldn’t do it without all of you, whether you read quietly or comment constantly, whether you make and share art or just drool over it, whether you’ve never posted a fic or you post tens of thousands of words a year to Elysian Fields. Every single one of you is so important to the site and we want to thank you for being part of what makes our community so great. So this celebration is a celebration of everyone who has ever been to Elysian Fields. Thank you—Spuffy may have brought us together, but you’re the reason we’re all still here.
To celebrate our milestone achievement, we have a new skin called “onethousand.” While we’ll be adding “onethousand” as a new skin, for a limited time only it will randomly select a banner from each of our active skins to display. (And much thanks to cawthraven’s brother, who helped write that bit of code while visiting on Thanksgiving.) If you’re watching closely, you may also see our new One Thousand banner in there!
Also, starting January 1, the featured fics will randomly select fics from throughout our 18-year history to display, so you can see a wide range of our 1,000 authors whenever you load the main page of the site.
Again, thank you to our authors and all our members. We’re so excited to keep growing with you all.
Special shout out to though_you_try, whose fic, Let Me Count the Ways, put us at 1000.
--Holly and the Mods on December 23, 2023 11:51pm 10 Comments
Hi EF! We’re super pleased to announce that we are adding “Artist of the Month” as a new category to our Members of the Month. Nominations are open now (and will close as normal on the 25th of the month) so get your nominations in for Artist of the Month—and Author of the Month and Commenter of the Month—now.
We have a snazzy new award, designed by MillennialCryBaby, that’s based on the original Author of the Month and Commenter of the Month awards. We also have snazzy, updated awards for those moving forward, so that all three match (and we took advantage of the opportunity to update the language on Commenter of the Month so it no longer says Reviewer).
We’re really excited we now can honor all of our artists, whether they make banner art or post their art as fanwork stories in the archive. We want to thank all the many people who have asked for this over the years via the Suggestion Box, email, private messages, and chats. It’s taken us a long time to get to where we felt this was the right move for the archive, but we’re here now and super happy about it.
--cawthraven and the Mods on December 15, 2023 10:38am 5 Comments
It’s an exciting time here at EF, as forty-five members have signed up to take part in this year’s Secret Santa event––and that’s not including the people who didn’t officially sign up but put themselves forward as rescue writers and artists anyway.
Participants must post their fics (or artwork, if applicable) between 12:00 am site time on December 1st and 11:59 pm on December 31st. If something goes awry and you cannot meet the deadline, please contact us! We understand life happens, but we don’t want anyone to end up giftless. Letting us know if your muse abandons you/cat eats your laptop/garden gnome blows up and takes your house with it means we can avail upon our aforementioned rescue writers and artists.
REMINDER: If you fail to hand over your gift by the deadline, you will be ineligible to take part in Secret Santa next year. Or possibly face a lifetime ban from this event if you not only do this, but also don’t reach out to the Mod Team to tell us what’s up.
Members are welcome to make and upload their own fic banners or commission another member to make a banner for them, as usual, but there is also a default gift fic banner (linked here) if you want to use it. If you use the default banner, please credit MillennialCryBaby as the banner artist. If you're including a custom banner with your fic, we request you add "Designed for the Elysian Fields 2023 Secret Santa Event" somewhere legible on it.
Reminder: only members participating by writing a fic or creating artwork will get an event award for Secret Santa. There are no shinies for betas, commenters, or banner artists.
Once it comes time to post your fic, you’ll be able to tick a box that will appear on the submission page, like so:
Please state clearly who your gift fic is for in either your story summary or story notes. You may also like to add the prompts you are meeting in your story end notes, though this is optional.
We recommend you reach out to your giftee via the EF PM system once you have posted to make sure they don’t accidentally miss it. That would be such a shame after all your hard work!
Giftees, we shouldn’t need to say this, but it is good etiquette to respond to your gifter to let them know you’ve seen and appreciate all their efforts.
Here is a screenshot of a sample fic showing the icon that will appear beside your fic, once posted, to indicate its status as part of the event:
Finally, here is the gorgeous participant award for this year:
Any issues or questions, please email EllieRose101 at elysianfieldsarchive@gmail.com
--EllieRose101 and the Mods on November 30, 2023 09:07pm 2 Comments