Last year we held our inaugural April Challenge Month, and it was one of the most successful challenges we've ever hosted. Well, I'm here to let you know that we're doing it again! Site wide events are something that we do well here at Elysian Fields (you can find all of the past events HERE). We always look forward to seeing what the talented members of our site come up with. You guys rock! 

With the huge success of last year's challenge we've decided to make it an annual thing, so consider this post your official invitation to participate in the 2nd Annual April Challenge Month. The best part is, you guys have already done part of the work by issuing so many dynamic and creative challenges. Our site has a veritable treasure trove of inspiration in the form of member-written fic ideas, and they are just dying to be responded to.

Buffy didn’t get a choice in her calling, but your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to scan the Challenges page(s) of the archive and find something that sparks the muse to action. Any fledgelings to EF, the Challenges page can be found HERE. Word count doesn't matter--one-shots or epic-length, the responses for the challenge are not genre-specific, or tied to a given theme. So long as the fic meets the requirements as set by the original poster, you're golden.  

No sign-up necessary, just hold off on posting your new Challenge inspired creation(s) until the clock strikes midnight (EF site time) on April 1st. Any fic posted within the month that is a direct response to a Challenge from the list on the archive will be considered part of the April Challenge month, and will be marked with an icon to differentiate it and make it easily identifiable, as with the past site events. And as with previous events, participating members (authors, commenters, and betas) will receive an award on their profile page. Also, the fic does not need to be completed within the month of April. 

Any questions? Comment on this news post. We look forward to seeing your responses! 

 

--Amy on February 12, 2020 10:17pm 11 Comments

Hi everyone,

Spike called, and he wants his Big Bad status back... talk about possessive. And so, like the Sunnydale Hellmouth itself, the Elysian Fields Big Bads Challenge is officially closed. 

Myself and the rest of the mods would like to thank and congratulate all who contributed in some way, making it yet another successful site event. Without the authors, artists, betas, commenters and lurkers, our site wouldn't be the place of awesomeness we know it to be. So thank you. 

 The Big Bads Challenge has delivered unto the site 30 brand new fic! If you haven't had a chance to check them out yet, and I highly recommend you do, you can FIND THEM ALL HERE. 

Big Bads Challenge stats:
(For challenge fic only, and accurate at the time of this news item being posted)

• New fic – 30
• Chapters added – 110
• Words added – 370,812
• Banners created – 28
• Comments received – 1,653
• Likes received – 2403

If you participated in the challenge as an author, commenter, artist, or beta, check out the awards section on your member profiles – you should see some graphics waiting for you. If we missed you by mistake, please shoot a PM to one of the mods. Thank you again to everyone who participated in in the Big Bads Challenge, we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

And as always, happy reading!

--Amy on November 08, 2019 12:28pm 3 Comments

Can you sense the danger in the air? That's just your slayer sense letting you know that a whole lot of big bads are on the way! That's right, we're almost to October, and Big Bads challenge month. We've never been more excited to know that villains are just around the corner. We're even marking the event with a spooky event skin, which will be our featured skin through the entire month. If you want to make it your default skin for the month, make sure to change it in your preferences page.

In order to make sure everyone understands all that's going on, we'll try to cover everything here. If there's something you're not sure about, please let us know in the comments. There's a lot of information in this post, but please read the whole thing to be sure you know what's happening in October.

How and when do I post my story so that it's part of the event?
Starting at midnight on October 1 (site time, which is Eastern US time-it's listed under the shoutbox), you'll see a new checkbox on the page where you add a new story:

 

As soon as you see that box, you're free to post. If you're adding a new story that is part of the challenge, check the box and you're good to go.

Your fic does not need to be complete prior to posting. In fact, it doesn't even need to be completed during October. You have the whole month, during which you only need to BEGIN posting the story.

If you requested and received a banner, please make sure to credit the artist in your story notes section. If you're not sure how to add a banner, please see this section in the FAQ.

If you have a beta that you worked with as part of your challenge story, you must credit them in your story notes in order for them to be counted as having participated in the event. If they aren't listed in your story notes, we have no way of identifying that they were part of the event.

How do I find the stories that are being added to the challenge?
It's easy to spot the danger lurking in our Big Bads challenge stories because they'll be marked with a skull and crossbones icon like the one here:

 

Also, don't forget that we have a site events browse page where you can view all the stories from previous site events, as well as the ones from this event.

Will you be featuring regular stories while the challenge is going on?
There won't be any mod-chosen featured stories in October. In the area where we usually have featured stories, we're going to begin the month by highlighting stories written in past years in honor of our 13th anniversary (the reason we hold events in October). Starting on the 1st, each day will highlight one year (1st-2006, 2nd-2007, and so on...), and will contain a random assortment of stories published in that particular year. Starting on the 14th, that section will change to feature a random assortment of fics that are part of this event.

Is there a comment aspect to this event as well?
Of course there is! If you write at least 13 comments in October that contain at least 13 words, 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! We have some amazing awards that will be given out after the end of October. Our amazing angelic_amy created the following awards for participating authors, artists, commenters, and betas:

 

That about covers it. Please let us know if there's any additional questions. Get ready for some amazing new stories!

--The Mods on September 27, 2019 10:10am 9 Comments

Just a quick post about a couple of technical issues/general glitches that we wanted to make everyone aware of.

1. Toften was named author of the month for Spetember, an honor she definitely deserved due to her amazing writing. However, we realized after the fact that Toften had already had the author of the month title. We failed to realize this earlier due to a series of unfortunate events. Once we realized our error, we puzzled over what to do. While we felt that Toften earned it, the rules state that members can only earn the title once. At this point, we're not ready to open things up to repeat winners since there are so many other deserving authors who haven't had the title. We spoke with Toften, who was gracious and understanding when she learned of our mistake. We decided to just go without an author of the month for the remainder of September because we didn't want to choose a different author who might feel like a second choice, or that they have an asterisk next to their author of the month listing. We apologize to Toften for getting her involved in this mess, and to all our members for the confusion this may have caused. We will strive to prevent it from happening again.

2. We're continuing to have issues with AOL/Yahoo email accounts delivering our emails. We've researched, explored, and experimented with ways to stop these providers from blocking us, but so far we've had no luck. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to the things they block from us. Sometimes messages are delivered as normal, sometimes they go to the junk folder, sometimes they don't appear at all. At this point, AOL/Yahoo isn't a reliable way to get notices from EF. We'll continue to try and get them to trust our emails, but if your EF email address is AOL/Yahoo, we recommend that you go to your Edit Bio/Personal Information page and change your email to another provider. Gmail and Outlook/Hotmail don't appear to be having issues delivering our messages, so they are good alternatives.

--The Mods on September 05, 2019 02:53am 3 Comments

Current author sign up count: 31

__________________________________________

Hi everyone, 

In a little over two months from now Elysian Fields turns 13 years old. 13 years, wow—it’s almost hard to believe our little archive is reaching teen status. And what teen doesn’t deserve a celebration upon reaching such a milestone? To celebrate the upcoming 13th anniversary of the archive, well, that of course means it’s time for the next site challenge. Welcome to your intro post for the Big Bads Challenge.

One of the best things about the series was the depth and breadth of characters, and so many of them were either underutilised or underappreciated. Not to mention, who doesn’t love a good villain? And fanfic is just the vehicle to give these characters the ‘air time’ they so deserve.

Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to select a ‘Big Bad’ from the series and write a new fic with them as a key player. Your Big Bad could be one of the regulars that had series-long arcs, or an episodic bit-player that you’d like to see get some more attention. Any named antagonist from the series, no matter their impact on the episode, season or series arc, is eligible to qualify for Big Bad status with this challenge.

You like to write known Big Bads? Great! We'd love to read more of them. Personally, as a fan of Mayor Wilkins III, I strongly believe there is no such thing as too many fic with him involved. But he or other series regulars might not float your boat. Perhaps taking a bit-player and turning them into a more epic-level villain is more your speed. Gorch brothers anyone? Mr Trick? Sunday? The Cher-loving psychopath that was Buffy's short-lived college roommate? I could go on. Whichever path you choose to take, we'd love to see what you come up with. 

Authors:
This new item serves as your sign-up post. By signing up to the challenge, you are agreeing to comply with the rules and regulations, and to write a fic with the following specifics:

• Length: Minimum of 1,500 word count, maximum is completely up to you.
• Characters: Buffy, Spike, a ‘Big Bad’ and any other BtVS or AtS characters you see fit.
• Content Specifications: The fic MUST address the theme of Big Bads. How you decide to incorporate this theme into a fic is entirely up to you, the writer. All big bads figures, canon or OC, are welcome. 
• Timeline: The fic can be set any time during the BtVS timeline, post series, or pre-series.
• Dates: No posting of the fic onto the archive (or anywhere else) until the 1st of October. As soon as you receive a confirmation email from me regarding your sign-up, consider the writing process time open.
• The challenge is for new fic only, not to be attached to an existing story.
• The fic DOES NOT need to be complete prior to posting, nor does it need to finished during the month of October. We’d just like them to be started during that time.
• Authors are not limited to writing one story. So if you have more than one idea...great!
• When you post your fic, please ensure you credit the artist who made the banner in your fic summary. 
• If you have a banner artist or beta that you worked with as part of your event challenge response, you must credit them in your story notes in order for them to be counted as having participated in the event. If they aren't listed in your story notes, we have no way of identifying that they were part of the event. 
• Please note: authors must sign up for the challenge prior to submitting a request for a banner. A further news post with details for banner requests will be posted to the site in the coming days. 

Artists:
We want all of our uber-talented banner artists to be included in the challenge as well. Artists, we’ll be connecting you with authors via a banner request list. Prior to the posting of fic on the 1st of October, authors can sign up to request a banner be made for their fic. Participating authors will email me a completed form, with their request for a banner to accompany their fic. The request may include things such as: Fic Title, Author Penname, the season the fic is set in, specific character image requests (including the big bad), colour theme…etc.

This information will be added to a master list. Artists may browse the page, and choose to sign up to fulfill a particular request. Each fic will ONLY be allocated to one artist, and it will be in a first come, first served basis. Artists may sign up to create multiple banners; however, we will cap the number to three banners to begin with, to encourage involvement from a lot of people. Secondary sign ups will also occur at some point. More details regarding the sign-up process for artists will come at a later date.

KEY DATES for the Challenge:

• Writing sign ups: from the 24th of August through to the 31st of October.
• Writing time: from email confirmation of sign-up until the challenge concludes.
• Author submissions of banner requests: from the 26th of August through to the 15th of September.
• Artist sign ups: 12th of September.
• Artists to provide banners to authors: by the 30th of September (unless otherwise negotiated with the author).
• Posting of fics to begin: from the 1st of October.
• NOTE: fics DO NOT need to be completed by the end of October, but the first part/chapter must be started prior to the end of the month to be included in the Challenge. 

Authors, if you decide to sign up, we are asking you to send Amy an email at angelic.amy.fic@gmail.com with the following information:

          Author penname:
          I intend to participate in the Big Bads Challenge.

And that’s it for now. If you have any questions about the challenge, please don’t hesitate to ask - you can shoot Amy an email at the address above, email the main account at elysianfields@dark-solace.org, or comment on this post. 

Yours in Spuffy,
The Mods.

--Amy on August 23, 2019 05:45pm 27 Comments

We know it's been a challenge having to wait for our April site event. However, we're only a few days away! We can't help but show our excitement for challenge month. No, really, you can see it with our brand new event skin, which will be our featured skin through the entire month. If you want to make it your default skin for the month, make sure to change it in your preferences page.

In order to make sure everyone understands all that's going on, we'll try to cover everything here. If there's something you're not sure about, please let us know in the comments. There's a lot of information in this post, but please read the whole thing to be sure you know what's happening in April.

How and when do I post my story so that it's part of the event?
After midnight on April 1 (site time, which is Eastern US time-it's listed under the shoutbox), post your story as you normally would. Once you've added your story, find the challenge you're responding to on the challenges page or in your saved challenges list (if you've already saved it to your personal list) in your Account Info page. At the bottom of the challenge, you'll see a Respond to the challenge! link. Click the link, put a check in the box next to the story which is the challenge response and click submit.

Your fic does not need to be complete prior to posting. In fact, it doesn't even need to be completed during April. You have the whole month, during which you only need to BEGIN posting the story.

If you have a banner artist or beta that you worked with as part of your event challenge response, you must credit them in your story notes in order for them to be counted as having participated in the event. If they aren't listed in your story notes, we have no way of identifying that they were part of the event.

How do I find the stories that are being added to the challenge?
Stories that are part of the event will be easy to spot because they'll have a little umbrella icon (That class protector umbrella comes in handy to avoid April showers):

Also, don't forget that we have a site events browse page where you can view all the stories from previous site events, as well as the ones from this event .

Will you be featuring regular stories while the challenge is going on?
There won't be any mod-chosen featured stories in April. For the first half of the month, the usual feature spot will showcase responses to challenges posted at Elysian Fields, no matter when they were published. Starting on the 15th, the featured area will display stories that were created specifically for this event.

Is there a comment aspect to this event as well?
Of course there is! If you write at least 20 comments in April that contain at least 5 words, 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! We have some amazing awards that will be given out after the end of April. Our amazing angelic_amy created the following awards for participating authors, artists, commenters, and betas (this is our first event with beta awards, and we're so glad to have them since betas need love too!):

That about covers it. Please let us know if there's any additional questions. Get ready for some amazing new stories!

--The Mods on March 28, 2019 11:14am 14 Comments

It was another amazing year in our corner of the Spuffy world. We celebrated our 12th birthday with the 12 Years 12 Seasons Challenge, which produced 31 wonderful new stories, we were lucky enough to have OffYourBird join our admin team, we passed the 5,000 story mark, and we continued to work both behind and in front of the curtain to make sure that Elysian Fields remains a welcoming, user-friendly place to be.

With no sign of slowing down, we're excited for 2019, which will include some site events that you won't want to miss. Also, we're set to register our 20,000th member sometime this year, which is no small feat. We promise to continue to do all we can to make sure that Elysian Fields feels like home.

Three cheers for everyone who made 2018 special at Elysian Fields, and who are carrying that energy into 2019! Here's to the authors, the artists, the commenters, the readers, and even the lurkers (no time like 2019 to come out of the shadows) .

2018 by the numbers:
Total number of words added: 7,495,574
Total number of stories added: 323
Total number of chapters added: 2,277
Number of new members: 1,689
Number of members who logged in: 5,966
Number of likes left: 72,747
Number of comments written: 42,250
Number of words written in comments: 2,298,018

Ten Most Prolific Authors of 2018:
1. Soulburnt (1,468,620 words)
2. Passion4Spike (531,974 words)
3. Axell (340,340 words)
4. All4Spike (292,579 words)
5. sandy_s (240,811 words)
6. -Carrie-Ann- (227,316 words)
7. Toften (191,273 words)
8. holetoledo (170,185 words)
9. OffYourBird (168,215 words)
10. Sigyn (141,677 words)

Ten Most Prolific Commenters of 2018:
1. pfeifferpack (445,950 words)
2. magnus374 (220,103 words)
3. Badwolfjedi (214,037 words)
4. OffYourBird (79,671 words)
5. All4Spike (66,786 words)
6. thenewbuzwuzz (58,165 words)
7. acekoomboom (57,013 words)
8. SpindleKitten (56,547 words)
9. jeweledichneumon (56,095 words)
10. Chosenname (53,094 words)

--Susan on January 01, 2019 07:33am 9 Comments

Hello everyone! 

A huge congratulations to everyone who participated in the challenge this year! Thanks to the involvement of the authors, artists, readers and reviewers we've had yet another very successful event celebrating Elysian Fields' birthday. I can't believe it's been 12 years since we opened. The challenge has seen 31 brand new stories written and shared with our wonderful community.

You can FIND ALL CHALLENGE FICS HERE - if you haven't read any yet I highly recommend you check them out.

To the artists of our community who created banners for the challenge, all art left unclaimed by participating authors returns to your ownership. If you wish your banner to remain up for grabs by potential authors you can always add your banner along with the corresponding prompt up on the site challenges page here by selecting 'Issue a Challenge' and filling in the details.

Finally, if you participated in the challenge as an author, reviewer, or artist, check out the awards section on your member profile - you should see some pretties there waiting for you. 

Thank you again to everyone who participated in the 12 Years 12 Seasons Challenge.

Happy reading!

--Amy on November 02, 2018 10:40am 3 Comments

Did anyone notice that we're only hours away from October and the 12 Years 12 Season Challenge? We're definitely not sitting here staring at the site time clock.

In order to make sure everyone understands all that's going on, we'll try to cover everything here. If there's something you're not sure about, please let us know in the comments. There's a lot of information here, but please read the whole post in order to learn about all the amazing things happening this month...

How and when do I post my story?
Starting at midnight on October 1 (site time, which is Eastern US time-it's listed under the shoutbox), you'll see a new checkbox on the page where you add a new story:

As soon as you see that box, you're free to post. If you're adding a new story that is part of the challenge, check the box and you're good to go.

Your fic does not need to be complete prior to posting. In fact, it doesn't even need to be completed during October. So any authors stressing about the timeline, please take a breath because you have the whole month, during which you only need to BEGIN posting the story.

If you requested and received a banner, please make sure to credit the artist in your story's summary section (see the screenshot below for proper wording). If you're not sure how to add a banner, please see this section in the FAQ.

How do I find the stories that are being added to the challenge?
Challenge stories will have a dozen roses icon next to the title:

Also, don't forget that we have a site events browse page where you can view all the stories from previous site events, as well as the ones from this challenge.

Will you be featuring regular stories while the challenge is going on?
There won't be any mod-chosen featured stories in October. In the area where we usually have featured stories, we're going to begin the month by highlighting stories written in past years. Starting on the 1st, each day will highlight one year (1st-2006, 2nd-2007, and so on...), and will contain a random assortment of stories published in that particular year. Starting on the 13th, that section will change to feature a random assortment of fics that are part of the 12 Years 12 Seasons Challenge.

I'm not an author or an artist, is there something I can do to participate?
Don't worry readers, we haven't forgotten about you. If you write at least 15 comments in October that contain at least 12 words (for the 12 seasons and our 12 years), you'll meet the requirements of the comment 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. Authors and artists who participated/are participating in the Challenge  are welcome to participate in the comment challenge as well!

Besides an amazing sense of pride, do we get anything for participating in these challenges?
Of course you do! We have some amazing awards that will be given out after the end of October. Our amazing angelic_amy created the following awards for participating authors: , artists: , and commenters: .

That about covers it. Please let us know if there's any additional questions. Stay tuned and get ready for an amazing October!

--The Mods on September 30, 2018 11:48am 5 Comments

Hello everyone!

The twelfth anniversary of Elysian Fields is fast approaching, and you know what that means...? Challenge month! Welcome to your intro post on the 12 Years 12 Seasons Challenge. This year, we're providing you with a variety of written prompts. When you sign up for the challenge, you (the author) choose a specific prompt that you intend to respond to. The full prompt must be included in your fic. The location of the passage can be used as you see fit. You can use it as a fic opener or somewhere else within the text; where is entirely up to you.

Of course, we want all of our talented banner artists to be included in this challenge - and you will be. Artists, we are asking you to do the same as the authors: pick a prompt that speaks to you and create a banner. Once banners have been made, they will be added to a master list with the prompts. Authors participating in the challenge will be able to request a banner as soon as they have written the beginning/first chapter of their fic.

What if you're not an author or an artist, I hear you ask? Don't worry, readers, we haven't forgotten about you. So long as you write 15 reviews that contain 12 words or more (for the 12 seasons of Buffy including the comics), you'll meet the requirements for the reviewer challenge!

I will act as a conduit for banner sign ups via email - similar to the other challenges we've hosted. When you're ready, authors, send me an email requesting a banner. The banner claims will be first come, first served. So, while there MAY be more than one author responding to a challenge, there will ONLY be one banner claimed for that response.

Artists:
We’re asking you to create a banner with the following specifics:
Dimensions: Width 900px x Height 250px (maximum)
Text: In a small (approx 8 – 10 pt) clear font along one of the edges:
     Designed for the Elysian Fields ‘ 12 Years 12 Seasons' Challenge.
Title: left up to the author. When your art has been claimed author and artist will be put in contact for banner personalisation.
Design: Completely up to you! The banner can be theme or episode specific, whichever works best for you , the artist.
Sign up email: send all banners created to angelic.amy.fic@gmail.com with the following information:
     -Artist Penname (EF account):
     -Prompt number the banner is a response to:

Authors:
We’re asking you to write a fic with the following specifics:
Length: Minimum length 1,500 words, maximum completely up to you!
Characters: Buffy, Spike, any other characters from the show (or original creations).
Content Specifications: Must include the passage you have signed up with somewhere in the fic. The banner must accompany the fic when it is posted on the archive. Modification of the banner with fic title and author name should be discussed with the artist once the first part is ready for publishing.
Sign up email: send all fic sign ups to angelic.amy.fic@gmail.com with the following information:
     -Author Penname:
     -Prompt number you will be writing for:

RULES AND REGS:
1) All fic entires MUST include BOTH Buffy and Spike. This is a Spuffy community so both vampire and slayer are a necessity! This does not restrict fic to the canon world, feel free to write Alternate Reality or All Human if that's what your muse prefers.
2) All banner entries MUST comply with the size restrictions.
3) All fic entries MUST meet the minimum word count.
4) All fic sign ups by authors MUST be emailed to the address provided.
5) All banners made by authors MUST be emailed to the address provided.
6) There is no limit to the amount of banners an artist can make, nor fics an author can write!

EVENT DATES:
Banner creation: 9th September to 1st October 2018
Fic sign ups: 9th September to 25th October 2018
Banner claims: 16th September to 25th October 2018 (or until all banners claimed)
Banner confirmation emails: from the 18th of September 2018 onward
Fic writing time: from the 9th of September 2018 onward
Fic posting time: from the 1st of October (site time) to the 31st of October 2018
NOTE: fics DO NOT need to be completed by the end of October, but the first part/chapter must be started prior to the end of the month to be included in the Challenge.

The prompts master list for the 12 Years 12 Seasons Challenge can be found HERE.

That's about it. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Yours in Spuffy,
The Mods.

--Amy on September 08, 2018 02:50pm 15 Comments

a helpful guide (we hope) to navigating the waters.

Constructive criticism is welcome by most writers but wording can make a difference. Expression of strong opinion and even passion about the characters and stories are also welcome but our terms of service clearly state that flaming is not permitted. 

This can lead to questions about just what constitutes constructive criticism.  This is a good rule of thumb about staying in bounds when giving feedback to authors here. 

Description of Constructive criticism: containing helpful and specific suggestions for positive change, constructive criticism is highly focused on a particular issue or set of issues, as opposed to providing general feedback on the item or organization as a whole.

The difference between constructive criticism and destructive criticism is the way in which comments are delivered. Although both forms are challenging your ideas, character or ability, when someone is giving destructive criticism it can hurt your pride and have negative effects on your self-esteem and confidence.

Saying, "This sucks" or "Stupid ass story" or "This is terrible" or "This is bull"  and the like is not constructive. Even worse are phrases that attack the writer not just the story. Whereas some of the examples might be on the border and be a cause for concern, depending on the rest of the feedback they might skirt the actual violation. These sorts of feedback almost always are hurtful to the writer though and are never constructive. While they may not result in an official warning as being a flame they really do not have a place here.

No one has to rain praise on any story or be nothing but a cheerleader. No one is being asked to hold their opinions to themselves but flames and other violation of TOS are being dealt with when reported and warnings issued when it is determined to have crossed that line. Nonetheless, those comments that come up to but don't cross the line need to be avoided as well. You don't have to like everything about a story or heap praise on the writer BUT there is no need to choose words in expressing those views that go right up to the border of a flame either. 

If you have lengthy constructive criticism you might want to contact the writer in private with the offer to help polish the story. 

It is not unreasonable to ask people to be polite even in criticism. Nor is it too much to ask that criticism be contained to the actual constructive variety.

We want everyone to be passionate, to have and express opinions BUT we demand it be done in non-hurtful ways. Playing nice is something most of us have been taught as a positive social behavior early on and most of us really want in our playgrounds.

So...Is what you are saying something that would help you write a better story if you were the author? Would it encourage you to pursue your craft? (or) Is it something that would make you want to never write another word or crawl into a hole? It really is that easy.

So remember:

--pfeifferpack on August 13, 2018 03:46pm 24 Comments

TOS/Policy update and explanations/definitions:

Social networking is always evolving and we at Elysian Fields try to keep up with those evolving issues to the best of our ability. This often leads to new or revised policies and Terms Of Service as with the Patron site links a few months ago.

It is our objective to have Elysian Fields be a place where all of us who love these characters can share and enjoy fanworks that continue to tell stories that center on the Spuffy connection. We aim to have it be a place where we can be a community of fans where interaction is encouraging and polite, where members can feel they are in a safe place to enjoy and share.

This does require a certain amount of, for lack of a better word, policing (insofar as volunteers are able to do so). And so for that reason, there are going to be a few changes and/or policies put into place in the coming weeks.

CHAT / Chatzy:

On the menu bar is a link (Chat) to a Chatzy live chat room. That menu link has always been merely a convenience. This chat room has never been an official part of Elysian Fields. It can be reached by going directly to it thus: http://www.chatzy.com/elysianfields the direct link from the menu will be removed as soon as coding changes are made. None of the mods here have the time or authority to police a site that is not officially ours so it has been decided that the link will be eliminated. Feel free to link on your own with the above link and enjoy the chatting but remember that we at EF are not responsible for any conversations that take place there.

We are tweaking our policies on-site behavior, this is another reason we are breaking the direct link to Chatzy.

It is our intention to set clear expectations about member behavior and protect and preserve our online reputation.

We have provided multiple outlets for conversations between members that we do have authority over and will be continuing to monitor. They all serve a purpose but are not all the same.

SHOUTBOX:

The shoutbox is located on the home page of the site and as such is visible to every person, registered member or not, who visits our site.

The shoutbox is a place for members to say hello, give RL updates, ask questions, make announcements and so on. There are guidelines however and a reason for them.

Because all ages have unrestricted access,  language should be in keeping with the varying age groups who visit. If a word is unacceptable for children or young teens it should not be used in the shoutbox. Please avoid coarse language.

There is a current limit of 300 characters for a shout and long conversations or complicated conversations are not appropriate with such limitations. That is why we have a separate LJ and FB page for such conversations. (more on that later). You are encouraged to take such longer or more in-depth conversations there. You might announce the topic of the conversation and provide a link in the shoutbox to the actual conversation. This will allow those not interested to forgo having to wade through 300 word snippets of interrupted conversation or to have disagreements turn ugly or be misunderstood.

Those who post anything intended to cause trouble in the shoutbox will receive a written warning from the site Mods after a report from other members and evaluation indicates the need. This could lead to restricted site privileges that could include a limited ban from using the shoutbox. Any action deemed as harassment such as a flurry of PM’s that accompany the troublesome shoutbox post will be cause for further action as well.

The new TOS on this will be in place shortly but in a nutshell there will be stages to how any violations will be dealt with. Anyone determined to be in violation of the new policies on Cyberbullying, Harassment, Flaming and/or Trolling (all to be defined later in this article) will be given the following (in order): A written warning to cease and desist. There will be no more than 3 written warnings in a year permitted before a permanent or one year site ban is put on the member’s ID. In the case of a one year ban, the member would be permitted back with full privileges. However, just one more warning upon return will result in a permanent ban.

LJ and FB (EF sponsored pages) conversations:

Politeness is always in order. That does not mean respectful disagreement is unacceptable. People have different opinions and views and that is fine and free speech is always permitted but the language used should always be respectful and, obviously, no name-calling is ever okay.

The subject of the conversation should be clear so that those entering into the discussions will know what they are getting into. Not everyone wishes to partake in a conversation on (for example) genres or technical writing skills whereas many others would be delighted. Make sure you title the thread properly.

No one should enter such discussions simply to stir up trouble. If you don’t wish to hear contrary opinions on a subject, do not join in the conversation!

This is how the LJ and FB pages differ from the shoutbox and why it is the proper place for those sorts of conversations. The shoutbox is there for every set of eyes to see and/or wade through to get to other shouts not related to the longer conversations. You either avoid the shoutbox altogether lest you encounter one of those discussions or you risk getting pulled in or upset. By keeping those conversations in the LJ or FB realm (and, as stated before links with description can be posted in the shoutbox to let interested parties know the conversations are taking place), only those who wish to participate can. It also makes it easier to follow the shoutbox flow without a lengthy discourse on a particular topic. Conversation not broken into 300 word chunks and with other conversations popping up in the middle will make it easier to follow for everyone.

Clearly this is not an attempt on our part to censor conversations or silence opinions but directing such conversations to the proper place. We do still insist on following basic rules of a civilized conversation that one would expect such as no flaming, harassment, bullying, trolling, and that sort of thing. Members can report violations and there will be an evaluation of the report by the mods.

DEFINITIONS of some of the terms used in this article:

Cyberbullying: Can take several forms some easier to spot than others. This includes, but is not limited to mean comments intended to inflict hurt, making fun of the victim, gossiping about another member, sending harassing PM’s or E-mails to another member.

A more difficult form to notice or police is the use of passive-aggressive behavior. Passive-Aggressive behavior on social media is explained in depth in several articles online including https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/passive-aggressive-diaries/201805/confronting-passive-aggressive-behavior-social-media

And

http://time.com/4916056/passive-aggressive-definition-meaning/

Passive-aggression is a deliberate but masked way of expressing feelings of anger, it is carried out online through several actions that often fall over into cyberbullying. Without directly addressing passive-aggressive behavior the dynamic will be played out again and again and leads to disruptive situations and unsafe environments.

Passive-aggression is there but it is not. You see it and you don’t. Sometimes there is an innocent explanation but often there is not and the passive-aggressors themselves might not even know which is which. That is why a complaint that such behavior is taking place will need to be evaluated by more than one set of eyes.

Some examples that might warrant evaluation include “the non-compliment”. If you are not sure which kind of compliment you’ve gotten, pay attention to your responses. If you feel like saying, “Thank you” it’s a normal compliment. If you feel like crying or screaming from the room...not so much. “Terrific soup” is a compliment, “Terrific soup, I didn’t even taste all that cilantro” is a passive-aggressive non-compliment.

“Wistful wishing” is another example. Someone will passive-aggressively announce something they want and then immediately conclude, aloud, that it’s probably not going to happen. The objective is to get an idea out there then immediately disown it. To illustrate, “It would be so great if no one ever wrote another claim fic but I guess that would make some people unhappy,” would be a passive-aggressive statement.

“The disguised insult” is another. Usually it comes in the form of a “but” statement. Something along the lines of “I don’t want to sound mean, but…” or “I hope you don’t think I’m insensitive, but…” After that “but” comes something hurtful or insensitive or judgmental. This is as close to pure aggression as the passive-aggressor gets.

If you see a pattern, it is probably real. You can tell the aggressor to knock it off but it often does not work. If you see a pattern, report it and a determination can be made if such statements indicate invocation of policy towards the offender should take place.

Harassment: Is repeated and unrelenting negative threats, mean comments and other hurtful activity. It becomes cyberbullying based on the repetition. Specifically, harassment can mean sharing private communications online with others, targeting the victim relentlessly in group communications or simply sending hurtful private message to another.

Flaming: Flames usually occur in a public setting online such as a chat group, shoutbox or forum. The cyberbully will send hurtful, angry or shaming messages to the victim directly but within the group so others can see. In addition to the effect of the hurtful message itself, the victim has also lost some of their credibility and reputation within the group and may feel they cannot be part of the community anymore. The victim will often disappear from the group with no fanfare but emotionally distraught.

Trolling: To make a deliberate offensive or provocative online post with the aim of upsetting someone or eliciting an angry response from them. A troll is someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community intending to provoke readers into an emotional response or otherwise disrupt normal on-topic discussion.

Often a troll will use emotionally charged words or expressions (“ick” or “yuck” in an opinion for example). They will use negative words designed to cause an emotional response in others.

Many trolls will take the time and energy to continue the trolling via PM’s or e-mails once they begin the exercise in the forum, shoutbox or other area of public communication.

How to spot a troll: A social media troll is someone who creates conflict on sites by posting messages that are particularly controversial or inflammatory with the sole intent of provoking an emotional (read: angry) response from other users. We all are capable of saying something that will result in hurt or anger. When informed that we have done so the normal response is to apologize (a REAL apology for the hurt/anger not a “if you were hurt…” statement of non-apology apology) and move on. With a troll there will not be an apology but a continuation that often attempts to shift the blame for the hurt/anger response on the person trolled. This can also lead to a group “taking of sides” situation. The more you respond to a troll the more motivation they have to continue stirring the pot.

Trolls do not toll to start an open-minded discourse about issues, they exist solely to antagonize and start fights.

Why do people troll? There are many reasons, but bear in mind they may feel depressed, attention-starved, angry, sad, jealous, narcissistic or some other emotion they may not be conscious of that influences their online behavior. The most recommended response by experts  to a troll trying to provoke you is to just ignore them. The old saying, “Don’t feed the troll,” is apt.

Sadly this does not always stop them. If you feel you are being trolled, report to the mods and it will be investigated and dealt with according to policy.

They troll for many reasons including but not limited to being a source of perverse entertainment for the troller, to be offensive and argumentative, to derive pleasure from annoying, hurting or angering others, to get attention, to feel powerful, to gain recognition, to upset the victim and even to present themselves as the victim.

Conflict vs. bullying: Conflict is a disagreement (civil) or argument in which both sides express their views. Bullying is negative behavior directed by someone seeking control over another person. Their goal is to hurt, harm or humiliate.

Cyberbullying can be relentless and increases the likelihood of anxiety and depression in the person being bullied (or those impacted as an observer).

Those who feel bullied can notably decrease involvement with the site or become withdrawn, losing interest in the community at large or the fandom in general. Not everyone who leaves a fandom or site is a victim of bullying but it is also not uncommon.

People guided by empathy usually realize they have hurt someone and will want to stop their negative behavior. On the other hand, people intending to cause harm and whose behavior goes beyond normal conflict will continue their behavior even when knowing it is hurting someone. At times revisiting a topic already proven to cause trouble in the past.

These types of behavior break down a community. It drives people away. It causes hurt and anger. It can eventually destroy a site completely.

When members try to retaliate or do anything that might be perceived by an outsider to have contributed to the problem you make it worse. Do not respond to a cyberbully except to calmly ask them to stop. If they refuse then take the next step and report the behavior to administration.

Again we will be adapting our TOS and policies to reflect our position on such behavior if and when it is reported or noticed by the mods. Warnings will be given and if that does not eliminate the problem site bans and restrictions will be enacted.

We are not trying to stifle anyone. We are not trying to censor anyone. We are not looking forward to a role as police-person. We do insist on having this site be one that is a positive place for people who share an interest in Spuffy and love of this fandom. We insist on respectful behavior and proper conflict resolution. We hope these coming clarifications and changes will help to preserve that environment, keep EF a place for writers to expand their skills and share their output and readers to enjoy the free gift of these stories as well as the community discussions that take place on site run locations such as the shoutbox, LJ and FB EF pages.

What to do if you have experienced or believe you have witnessed a violation?

Every registered member has a profile page. On that page next to the username are boxes one of which says, “[Report this]”.  Click this box and fill in your report of where the violation occurred and it will transmit to the administrators of the site. The mods will then investigate and take it from there. You might be contacted for further information if deemed necessary. Please be as specific as possible so that we can make a fair and timely judgment. If the infraction occurred in a PM or e-mail you should be willing to share that information with the mods. (a screenshot will work or an e-mail forward)

Thank you for reading and understanding and for helping us be the place you WANT to come and join in safely.

The Mods

--Mods on May 22, 2018 01:36pm 25 Comments

Happy new year! 2017 was another amazing year here at Elysian Fields. In honor of Buffy the Vampire Slayer's 20th anniversary, we hosted our reunion challenge, which produced over 40 new stories. Also, we added some fun new emoticons thanks to EffulgentEllie, we passed 200,000 reviews and 100,000,000 words for stories we host, and we briefly considered switching themes to become the first ever Rangel site.

Not ones to rest on our laurels, we're keeping things fresh for 2018 and adding 2 new skins. The time in between features a stunning new banner from Amy, and dead poets society showcases a stunning banner from javajunkie247. Remember that to set your default skin, you need to head over to the Edit Preferences page in your Account Information. Since the holidays are over, we'll be retiring our holiday skin until next December. Thanks to nmcil for creating the banner and giving us some holiday spirit.

Thank you to everyone who made 2017 so wonderful: the authors, the reviewers, and even the lurkers !

2017 by the numbers:
Total number of words added: 6,980,929
Total number of stories added: 404
Total number of chapters added: 2,654
Number of new members: 1,625
Number of reviews written: 45,744
Number of words written for reviews: 2,317,464

Ten most prolific authors of 2017:
1. sandy_s (532,426 words)
2. OffYourBird (443,725 words)
3. Sunalso (418,678 words)
4. -Carrie-Ann- (276,751 words)
5. Cryptwarmer (257,712 words)
6. Holly (226,851 words)
7. Gort (219,951 words)
8. Loup Noir (215,854 words)
9. babylove969 (185,177 words)
10. slaymesoftly (172,803 words)

Ten most prolific reviewers of 2017:
1. pfeifferpack (583,677 words)
2. magnus374 (182,359 words)
3. Catryona (65,049 words)
4. swifthorse (62,584 words)
5. OffYourBird (61,239 words)
6. All4Spike (51,692 words)
7. Badwolfjedi (44,974 words)
8. thenewbuzwuzz (42,012 words)
9. Sunalso (39,394 words)
10. ginar369 (38,386 words)

--Susan on January 02, 2018 06:02am 10 Comments

Who's ready for October and the start of the Reunion Challenge? (hint: WE ARE! ) In order to make sure everyone understands all that's going on, we'll try to cover everything here. If there's something you're not sure about, please let us know in the comments. There's a lot of information here, but please read the whole post in order to learn about all the amazing things happening this month...

How and when do I post my story?
Starting at midnight on October 1 (site time, which is Eastern US time-it's listed under the shoutbox), you'll see a new checkbox on the page where you add a new story:

As soon as you see that box, you're free to post. If you're adding a new story that is part of the challenge, check the box and you're good to go.

Your fic does not need to be complete prior to posting. In fact, it doesn't even need to be completed during October. So any authors stressing about the timeline, please take a breath because you have the whole month, during which you only need to BEGIN posting the story.

If you requested and received a banner, please make sure to credit the artist in your story's summary section. If you're not sure how to add a banner, please see this section in the FAQ.

How do I find the stories that are being added to the challenge?
Challenge stories will have some clinking champagne glasses next to the title (because what's a reunion without a celebratory toast?):

Also, don't forget that we have a site events browse page where you can view all the stories from previous site events, as well as the ones from this challenge.

Will you be featuring regular stories while the challenge is going on?
There won't be any mod-chosen featured stories in October. In the area where we usually have featured stories, we're going to begin the month by reuniting with stories written in past years. Starting on the 1st, each day will highlight one year (1st-2006, 2nd-2007, and so on...), and will contain a random assortment of stories published in that particular year. Starting on the 12th, that section will change to feature a random assortment of fics that are part of the Reunion Challenge.

I'm not an author or an artist, is there something I can do to participate?
Don't worry readers, we haven't forgotten about you. If you write at least 20 reviews (for 20 years of Buffy) in October that contain at least 7 words (for the 7 seasons), you'll meet the requirements of the reviewer challenge! You'll see a link to the review challenge leaderboard on the homepage under the Members of the Month where the all star reviewer list is usually located. Authors and artists who participated/are participating in the Reunion Challenge  are welcome to participate in the reviewer challenge as well!

Besides an amazing sense of pride, do we get anything for participating in these challenges?
Of course you do! We have some amazing awards that will be given out after the end of October. Our amazing angelic_amy created the following awards for participating authors: , artists: , and reviewers: .

That about covers it. Please let us know if there's any additional questions. Get some rest. We know there are late nights filled with good stories ahead.

--The Elysian Fields Mods on September 27, 2017 05:34pm 12 Comments

Hey everyone,

The first lot of requests for art have come in, and this short message is to point you all towards them! If you're an artist in the Elysian Fields community and you're thinking of signing up to create one of the banners (or you're curious about the upcoming fic and just want to take a look), then you can find the banner requests HERE.

Artists, make sure you read over the info if you’re thinking of claiming one of the art requests. 

Susan, our resident tech guru extraordinaire, has the art request claim page set up to automatically switch to request claiming OPEN at midnight SITE TIME on the 1st of September. Early claims will not be accepted.

To claim a fic request, artists will need to email me with the following information:

     Artist penname/user ID:
     Permission to share your email with the author(s) you sign up for: 
     Banner request: List your banner request(s) by fic title and author penname name, in order of preference
     (up to top 5 or 6).
     Number of banners you are willing to create: (max 3)

Each fic will ONLY be allocated to one artist, and it will be in a first come, first serve basis. Artists may sign up to create multiple banners, however we will cap the number to three banners to begin with, to encourage involvement from a lot of people. If we require a secondary sign up, that will happen later on. 

Finally, to the participating authors. Even though the request claiming goes live on the 1st of September, you can still sign up to request art after that date, but we will be imposing a cut off (likely a week before posting starts on the 1st of October--this is to be confirmed), to ensure that artists have enough time to complete the requests. 

That's about it. Any questions? Comment here.

And when the time comes... happy claiming!

--Amy on August 27, 2017 10:24pm 4 Comments