With the holidays officially behind us, we have retired the Secret Santa skin as the site default (though it’s still available for selection) and exchanged it for a brand-new skin, entitled fierce, based on the amazing artwork provided by OffYourBird. To set it to your default, visit Account Info > Profiles and Preferences > Edit Preferences.

We held four site events—Challenge Month in April, Mystery Month in July, Called Challenge in October, and our second-ever Secret Santa Fic Exchange in December. The response was overwhelming, as the numbers will show.

In the second year of recognizing the milestone that is Completed Fics, we had 124 authors complete a total of 360 fics; that’s 14 more authors and 28 more fics than last year. Our goal in 2020 was to award the FIC COMPLETE award to more authors in 2021, and thanks to the efforts of our amazing authorship, we did just that.

All authors who completed a fic (one-shots count!) in 2021 have been issued this award:

The other award seeing its second year is the Challenge Complete Award. This was awarded to site members who completed any site event challenge in 2021 (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, which had its own participant recognition that everyone who completed their Secret Santa assignments should have in their profile.

  

P.S. If you haven't read the fics yet, you can find them all on their site event page, which is also accessible by going to Browse >> Site Events >> 2021 Secret Santa.

We also have issued awards to our most prolific members. These are chosen by the numbers.

In 2021, we added:

• 11,462,167 words
• 466 stories
• 2,518 chapters
• 1,726 new members
• 105,541 new likes
• 43,159 new comments to the archive (comprising 3,143,077 words)

That is a lot of content, all made possible because of you guys. Seriously, some of you wrote whole novels’ worth of comments for our authors, and we have the numbers to prove it.

Top 10 Commenters

• pfeifferpack (521,165 words)* Recipient of Most Prolific Commenter Award 2021
• swonderful (246,038 words)
• magnus374 (218,907 words)
• honeygirl51885 (131,144 words)
• talesofstories (96,712 words)
• bmerb (93,787 words)
• All4Spike (85,185 words)
• Green (76,662 words)
• The Danish Bird (75,458 words)
• Secretangel106 (67,481 words)

Top 10 Authors

• Touchstoneaf (742,923 words)* (Recipient of Most Prolific Author Award 2021)
• Holly (511,498 words)
• Passion4Spike (481,088 words)
• Dusty (475,855 words)
• Violette-Milka (385,763 words)
• Jws1993 (317,427 words)
• violettathepiratequeen (300,416 words)
• Sigyn (279,600 words)
• MissLuci (259,570 words)
• sweetprincipale (249,471 words)

   

If you are missing an award you should have received, please reach out to us (ssolace@gmail.com) and we’ll verify and get that corrected.

Guys, it was another rough year in the real world, and we couldn’t have made it through without you all helping make EF an extra special and bustling port in the storm. We have big things in store for 2022 and more announcements to come. Thank you so much for everything you give to our community. We know we wouldn’t be here without you.

The holiday season is in full swing here at Elysian Fields with our second Secret Santa event! To celebrate the occasion, OffYourBird created a special event banner and Holly made it into a beautiful site skin! This skin will be available from now through the end of December for everyone to enjoy. Change your skin to our holiday theme by going to Account Info > Edit Preferences > Default skin: secretsanta. (And if you’re looking for holiday merriment past Dec 31, our general Holiday skin is now available year round!)

We are pleased to announce that this year’s Secret Santa event is even bigger than the last, with 60 members participating! If you’re one of those 60, these details below are for you:

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What are the Secret Santa participation requirements again?

For those of you giving Secret Santa gifts (officially signed-up members only), you will be able to post your fics starting at 12:01am ET (site time)  December 1, and will be able to post until 11:59pm ET on December 31. All fics MUST be one-shots. That is, they must be one chapter composed of 14,750 or fewer words. Rest assured, your summary, story notes, chapter notes, and end notes do not count against your word count.

When publishing your gift, be sure to mark the checkbox shown below:

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What event information do I need to include in my story?

You must include the following information in your summary or story notes: “This fic is an Elysian Fields 2021 Secret Santa gift for [giftee's name]"

It’s also recommended that you send your giftee a private message once you’ve published the fic, so they don’t miss seeing it!

Banners: If you're including a custom banner with your fic, it must have "Designed for the Elysian Fields 2021 Secret Santa" legibly added to it.

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Does a gift writer need to reveal their giftee’s preferences?

You do not! As with a standard Secret Santa, no preferences have to be mentioned publicly. However, if you want to attach your giftee's preferences to your story, please do so in your story end notes.

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How do I find the stories that are being added to the Secret Santa?

All gift fics will be merrily marked with a festive stocking icon, which looks like the example below:

Additionally, all gift fics can be found on the 2021 Secret Santa event page, and OffYourbird will be keeping a running announcement of fic gifts on the EF Facebook Discussion Page.

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I forgot… What do I do if I realize I’m not going to be able to finish my gift fic by the deadline?

The last thing we want is for any member to end up giftless. While we have done our best to ensure that members are only participating with an understanding of their commitment, we know that life happens. So, if you find that you will be unable to write a fic for your giftee, you MUST reach out to OffYourBird (via ssolace@gmail.com or PM) by December 15 so that she can contact a rescue writer.

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We’re looking forward to much merriment at Elysian Fields this coming month --- Happy Holidays from the Mods!

As all children on a hellmouth know, Santa isn't up in the North Pole. He's a demon--no really! The "jolly old man" grabs them close, with deep booming laughter, and uses his claws to rip them asunder! But our hellmouth children are sly, you see, and stuff up their chimneys with flames and weaponry. And every Christmas Eve, they leave out treats by the hearth, not for demonic Nick, but for the Slayer and her sweetheart. And when Christmas has come, and the cocoa is gone, they rejoice for a day of merriment and fun.

In other words, it's time for Elysian Fields' 2nd annual Secret Santa fic-giving event!!! While Buffy and Spike keep the world safe from devious holiday demons, we'll be gathering around our virtual hearths and exchanging gifts of joy and Spuffy fic love.

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Here’s how it works:

Everyone who signs up to participate in this event will write one fic and receive one fic. Each fic should be a “one-shot” size. That is, the fic must not exceed one chapter and it must be under 14,750* words in length. Fics do NOT need to be holiday-related in any way (unless your giftee requests it!). 

* While the chapter word limit is technically 15,000 words here on EF, variations in processor word counting created a lot of work (and many workarounds) last year for our dear Tech Mod Holly, so we're keeping it lower to assure there won't be any issues again this year.

There is no word count minimum to this event, as we don't wish to discourage alternative-format fics (poems, artwork inclusions, etc). 

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What do I get for participating?

Well, the event itself is your biggest gift, because you'll end up with a brand new gift fic! However, you'll also get a shiny Spuffy badge for your profile:

(Note: you may have someone beta your fic or make a banner for your fic if you wish, but only those EF members who sign up to write/receive will be eligible for an event participation award for this event.)

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How do I sign up?

You will sign up using the form linked below, and input your preferences for fic writing/receiving. OffYourBird will make best case matches from all the responses, and then reach out to each participant with the penname and story preferences of their giftee. Please remember that this gift-giving is confidential. Don’t share who you have for a giftee until you post your fic! Revealing that information ahead of time will allow demonic Santa to start his spree of terror early, and that would just be a bad time for everyone.

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Can any EF member sign up for this event?

Any member, whether they've previously written a fic on EF or not, is eligible to partake in this event!

However: if you were a member who signed up for the event last year (2020) and did not complete your fic or did not complete your fic by the deadline, you will not be eligible to participate this year. You may participate again in 2022. Any ineligibility will be communicated to you by a Mod, if it becomes relevant. Otherwise, you may assume you are good to go!

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What is the timeline for this event?

In order to ensure we can enjoy the Spuffy-given safety of a holiday free from demonic St Nick, all fics must be published to Elysian Fields by midnight (site time) on December 31, 2021. 

Here’s a full run-down of the timeline:

November 6 (today!) --- Sign-ups open. Find the SIGN-UP FORM HERE 

November 20 --- Sign-ups close at midnight site time

November 22-23 --- Writing assignments are distributed to participants

December 1 --- participants may begin publishing their fics. More details regarding HOW to publish your fic will be posted here in the news section at the end of November. Additional details will also be sent via email to each participant.

December 31, 2021 --- participants must have their fics published by midnight site time

No late sign-ups or publishing will be allowed. Please only sign up if you can commit to publishing your fic by midnight on December 31. Leaving a participant giftless will make Spuffy deeply sad, and we can’t have that.

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How can I help ensure no one ends up giftless?

Whether or not you sign up to participate in the event itself, you can sign up to be a Secret Santa Rescue Writer! Either choose "yes" on the event sign-up form where it asks, or email OffYourBird at ssolace@gmail.com and let her know that you'd like to be on the volunteer Rescue Writer list. If she ends up with someone in need, she may reach out to you (by no later than Dec 16) to see if you can rescue a gift.

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So, come and join the fun this holiday season with our 2nd annual Elysian Fields Secret Santa!

Hello everyone,

This message is going to be kept short and sweet. Timezone differences and spotty wifi has meant this post has gone up several hours later than it usually would for this stage of an event. My bad.


Not only does this news post share with you all the link to the banner request master list, but since the site clock has ticked over to the 12th of September that means the requests are officially live and up for grabs.  

If you are an artist in the Elysian Fields community, and you're thinking about signing up to create one of the banners (or if you're just curious to get a sneak peak of some of the fic that will hit the archive come October) then you can browse the list HERE.

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

Elysian Fields has two site requirements for the banner and they are:
     Dimensions: Width 900px x Height 250px (maximum). 
     Text: In a small clear font (approx 8 – 10 pt) along one of the edges:
     Designed for the Elysian Fields ‘Called’ Challenge.

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
     (first, second, third).
     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.

If you are successful in claiming a banner request, you will receive a confirmation email along with instructions for how you can contact your author. A gentle reminder: please ensure you follow the request details as set by the author.

Finally, to the participating authors. Even though the request claiming is OPEN, you can still sign up to request art up to the 25th of September. So if you would like to add you request to the list, make sure you email me by then. 

That's about it. Any questions? Comment here. If you've gotten to the end of this post, it's time to check out the banner request list. What are you waiting for?


Happy claiming!

As any true fan knows, Buffy was 15 years old when she Called as a slayer. But some of our members may not know that this year on the 28th of October our beloved Elysian Fields celebrates its 15th birthday. Combine the two and what do you get? Our next site challenge theme. Welcome to your intro post for the Called Challenge.

How will the challenge work?
During the month of October, authors (existing and aspiring) are invited to post a fic connected to the theme to celebrate the awesomeness that is our little community.

The theme for the challenge, Called, can be utilised however your creative brains interpret. Struggling for ideas? Here are a few to help spark the muse:

• Being called up from potential to active Slayer
• Being called to duty by the Initiative, the Council, the Powers that Be
• Someone being called out for bad behaviour
• A sire calling a fledge home
• Being called into work
• Someone calling out during at the wrong (or right) time
• Words called out in a moment of passion
• Ot maybe something as simple a phone call. It could be one that: drastically shifts canon, OR is a last minute profession of love, OR shares a previously kept secret, OR is unknowingly overheard by someone else in the room...

And that’s where the I’m going to stop with the ideas because I’m certain you guys have this covered.

Your challenge, should you choose to accept the... calling... is to use the theme of Called as inspiration to write a brand new fic. 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 with this challenge. Whichever path you choose to take, we'd love to see what you come up with.

Authors:
This news 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, and any other BtVS or AtS characters you see fit.
• Content Specifications: The fic MUST address the theme Called. How you decide to incorporate this theme into a fic is entirely up to you, the writer. All theme interpretations, big or small, 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, if you have a lil' something pretty gracing it, please ensure you credit the artist who made the banner in your story notes or fic summary.
• If you have a 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 artists or betas are not listed in your summary/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:
Of course we want to include the talented bunch of pretty makers we have here at EF. 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 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, colour, theme…etc.

This information will be added to a request master list. Artists may then 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 23rd of August through to the 29th of October.
• Writing time: from email confirmation of sign-up until the challenge concludes.
• Author submissions of banner requests: from the 31st of August through to the 25th 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 me (Amy) an email at angelic.amy.fic@gmail.com with the following information:

     Author penname:
     I intend to participate in the Called Challenge.

And that’s it for now.
Any questions? Comment on this news post or shoot me an email at the address above. I know I speak for the rest of The Mods when I say we are looking forward to seeing what the authors and artists of our community come up with!

Welcome to Week 5 of the first Elysian Fields Mystery Fic-a-Thon Event!

This is it! The final prompt. Thank you all so much for the awesome response to our slightly different EF event. Your contributions have confirmed something we already knew, but like to prove as much as possible anyway -- our writers are some of the most creative out there. Give yourselves a well-deserved pat on the back.

Curious to see how the prompts are being addressed? Check out the fics on our Event Page.

Your prompt for Week 5 comes from your mostly benevolent emcee, Holly. 

YOUR FIC MUST CONCLUDE WITH AN HEA/HFN

Upper right panel artwork credited to: georgaArt

Lower left panel artwork credited to: Jenny Tato

This prompt will be SUPER easy for some of you (many of whom already have their fics labeled thusly, so, you’re welcome) and, well, less so for others. But remember that HFN stands for “Happy for Now,” so if you’re really dead-set on gutting readers, consider your fic’s conclusion a natural stopping place for this particular act of your overall story and continue with the gutting in future installments. Since this fic stands on its own, and future installments are Brand New Fic and not burdened by event prerequisites (unless, say, we do this again and that’s where you decide to continue it), you’re in the clear.

REMINDERS

• Your fic has a HARD goal of 5 chapters. This means THIS CHAPTER is the last one! 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.
• All chapters MUST be posted within the allotted time-window 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’s end-notes by the time the posting window closes for that prompt. We check and disqualify fics that do not include this, as well as fics posted outside of the weekly time window. If you haven’t added your end-note for Chapter 4, you have until EOD site-time on August 1.
• No NEW fics for this event may be submitted.
• The little complete checkmark MUST BE CHECKED after you post your final prompt chapter.

POSTING WINDOW FOR CHAPTER 5

• Start: August 2
• End: August 8

Happy writing, all!

Welcome to Week 3 of the first Elysian Fields Mystery Fic-a-Thon Event!

Your mostly benevolent mods have been tickled pink by the continued creativity and enthusiasm for our slightly different event. Thank you to all the authors who have ensured we are not short on new Spuffy.

Curious to see how the prompts are being addressed? Check out the fics on our Event Page.

Your prompt for Week 3 comes from the always fabulous Pfeifferpack. 

YOUR FIC MUST FEATURE THE USE OF A BBQ FORK

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.
• All chapters MUST be posted within the allotted time-window 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’s end-notes by the time the posting window closes for that prompt. We will be checking and disqualifying fics (though the ones we’ve checked so far have been solid -- good work, team!). If you haven’t done this yet for Chapter 2, you have until EOD site-time on July 18.
• No NEW fics for this event may be submitted.

POSTING WINDOW FOR CHAPTER 3

• Start: July 19
• End: July 25

PROMPT 4 ANNOUNCED

• July 23

Happy writing, all!

We decided to give you guys a head start. You're getting this one early.

Let the Mystery Begin!

Your first prompt comes courtesy of the fabulous Megan. And here it is (drumroll if you will…)

YOUR FIC MUST INCLUDE THE CHARACTER(S) ETHAN RAYNE AND/OR MARCIE ROSS

Get your engines running, gang.

How and when do I post my story?

Starting at midnight on July 5 (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 11, 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 Event fics will have a little Scooby Doo icon in the byline.

You can also find all of the Mystery Event fics as they are added by visiting the Event Page.

What should my chapter include?

Aside from that week’s prompt, 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. 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 Scooby icon and be ineligible for author awards. For the first chapter, that means between July 5 - July 11.

Anything else to keep in mind as I start writing?

Unlike past EF events, the Mystery Fic-a-Thon has a HARD cap at five chapters. In addition to fulfilling each week’s prompt, all fics MUST be complete by the event’s end 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?

If you have a beta that you worked with as part of your Mystery Fic, you must credit them in your story notes OR your summary 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. 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 Event skin is now live if you want to make it your default. Scroll down to the skins and select the one labeled “Scoobies” to switch. If you want to keep it, make sure you change it in your preferences page. And if you haven't seen it, the skin looks like this:

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 Event 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. Betas, 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 OffYourBird on your page, get ready for a fun five weeks.

I’m exhausted. What was the prompt again?

YOUR FIC MUST INCLUDE THE CHARACTER(S) ETHAN RAYNE AND/OR MARCIE ROSS

When will the next prompt be announced?

Prompt #2 will be announced in a new News Item on July 9. It will also be announced on the ShoutBox and on our Facebook group.

Get ready, EFers! Something mysterious is heading your way starting in July...

All will be revealed later this week, so stay tuned for our upcoming news post! And in the meantime, enjoy this completely fabulous artwork by Grief Counseling.

Hello everyone,

Can you believe we’re only a day out from posting fic for the Artistic April Challenge Month?
We know a lot of our authors and readers are excited to get started (and that includes the mods!) so this post serves as a final Q&A for the event.

This post should cover everything, but if there's a burning question you have or something else you're curious about, please let us know in the comments and we'll get back to you ASAP. There's a lot of information here, so grab a bite, get snuggly, and prepare to learn about all the amazing things happening in April...

How and when do I post my story?
Starting at midnight on April 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.

As soon as you see that box, you're free to post. If your story 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 April. 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.

How do I find the stories that are being added to the challenge?
Besides the note in the story summary, challenge stories will have a little artist's palette and brush next to the title:



This will make it easy to spot challenge fics. Also, don't forget that you can browse the site events page where you can view all the stories from previous site events, and all Artistic April Challenge month fics can be located here.

I didn’t sign up, but I still want to participate. Can I still join in on the fun?
You most certainly can. The banner master list still has a bunch of challenges and art that are currently unclaimed. Fence sitters can still sign up to claim one of these beauties right up until the 25th of April. That’s the cut-off date to allow for authors to get something written (and posted on the site) prior to the end of the month and the close of the event.
To claim a banner contact Amy via email at: angelic.amy.fic@gmail.com 

You can also write for a standard site challenge, as in previous years. Find all of our site challenges here!

What happens to any unclaimed banners and challenges?
Banners and challenges unclaimed by the end of April revert back to artist ownership. Artists may choose to add their challenge(s) and the accompanying art to the site challenges page if they wish, but this is at the artists' discretion.

Do I need to credit the artist who created my banner?
Yes! All artists must be credited for their wonderful works, and this is done simply through the Summary section when uploading your fic. The following text should be added to the end of all summaries that are part of this event:
Written for the Elysian Fields 'Artistic April Challenge' Month. Banner #00 by [artistname].

Here's a fictional example of what it should look like:
Summary: Willow endeavours to teach Angel how to people. This is thwarted when Angel discovers Buffy and Spike have registered at Bed, Bath & Beyond. Written for the Elysian Fields 'Artistic April Challenge' Month. Banner #0 by Holly.


Do I have to link to the challenge specifics?
Nope, this is not a requirement. However, if you wish to prepare your readers on what they can expect in your fic, you can do so by linking to the banner master list with this URL: https://dark-solace.org/elysian/2021challengemonth.php
Alternatively, you could copy and paste the challenge specifics into the Story or Chapter Notes of your fic.

How do I get my banner personalised?
Authors, if you’re ready to post on the 1st of April, don’t forget to reach out to your artists for banner personalisation. How to do so was emailed to you during the banner confirmation process. If you have not been able to make contact with your artist, or forgot to contact them, please let Amy know and she'll put you in contact with each other.

How do I add my banner to my story?
To add the banner to your story, you can upload the banner to your account in the Your Images section of your account info page, or to an image sharing site (imgur.com, etc...) . Enter the image URL (which should end in .jpg, .gif or .png - nothing should be after the file type) into the line marked "Banner URL"

What about betas?
If you have a beta that you worked with as part of your challenge story, you must credit them in your story notes OR your summary 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.

Is there an event skin?
Yes. The Challenge Month skin has been switched back on if you want to make it your default. If you want to keep it, make sure you change it in your preferences page. And if you haven't seen it, the skin looks like this:

Will you be featuring regular stories while the challenge is going on?
There won't be any mod-chosen featured stories in April. In the area where we usually have featured stories, we're going to highlight stories written as responses to challenges listed on the site and responses to this event. 

This challenge celebrates the amazing authors and artists at Elysian Fields, but what about the readers?
Come on, we couldn’t forget about you guys. If you write at least 15 comments in April 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! The April awards that match our Challenge Month skin made by Amy have been tweaked for this year's Artistic event. As always, there will be awards for participating authors, artists, betas, and commenters:
   

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

EDIT 27/2: BANNER CLAIMING IS OPEN

________________

Hey everyone!

We’ve had a massive amount of art submitted for this event, way more than I anticipated (and I’d set my expectations pretty high). In fact, I’m still receiving banner and challenge submissions, and they will continue to be accepted and added to the Banner Master List right up until 11:59pm on the 26th of Feb.

A little reminder of the Event dates before we get down to business:
Banner submission: 10th – 26th of February
Banner claims open: 27th of February
Banner claims confirmed: 1st – 3rd of March
Writing time: from banner confirmation (beginning 1st of March) onwards. Please do not write for a banner until you receive email confirmation it is yours.
Fic submissions: posting to begin between the 1st – 30th of April


Event details:
Firstly, by signing up for a banner, you are agreeing to comply with the rules and regs for the event, and write a fic with the following specifics:

• Length: Minimum length 1,500 words, maximum completely up to you!
• Characters: Buffy, Spike, any other characters shown in the banner or mentioned in the artists challenge details.
• Content Specifications: Must abide by the Must and Can’t Haves specified by the artist. Obviously the Can Haves is voluntary. All fic MUST follow the guidelines set by the banner artist, unless changes are agreed upon by both parties.
• Dates: no posting of the fic on the archive (or anywhere else) until the 1st of April. 
• Banner claims are for new fic only, not to be attached to an existing story. 
• 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 artist once the first part/chapter is ready for publishing. Authors, I will put you in contact with the artist during the banner selection process.

What you need to know about claiming a banner:

• There will be no early requests. The banner claiming process opens at 12:00am 27th of February. This is firm – early requests will not be accepted. If you have your eye set on a particular pretty, please keep an eye on the site clock to ensure your request is valid. The site clock is on the Shoutbox on the main page of the archive for anyone looking for it.
• Each banner will ONLY be allocated once, and it will be first come, first serve. The confirmation process for the last time we ran this event went down to the second (in terms of determining who is allocated particular banners if there are multiple requests for one piece), so make sure you are ready to hit send on the email when sign ups commence.
• Authors will be allocated one banner for Round 1 signups. If you are interested in writing for more than one challenge (and claiming more than one banner) there will be secondary signup round(s) for unclaimed banners (dates to be confirmed in a news post after Round 1 claims are confirmed). 
• Authors, you are advised to ensure your signup email to claim a banner includes your top three preferences, in case your first or second is chosen. If you want to list more preferences than that, that’s perfectly fine. But understand you will only be allocated one banner to begin with, as mentioned above. 

To claim a banner:

Email me at angelic.amy.fic@gmail.com with the following information:

• Author penname:
• Email address you want shared with your artist: (so contact can be set up with the artist for text additions)
• Banner request: List your top 3 banner choice(s) by title (number) and artist name, in order of preference. 

And that’s it.


How do I know if my selection has been accepted?

• Between the 1st and 3rd of March confirmation emails will be sent to authors identifying which of your banner choices you have been successful in attaining. So please don't start writing until you receive your confirmation email. 
• Your Elysian Fields ID will also be linked with the banner on the master list page, which is why providing your penname is essential. 

Any questions? Comment here or shoot me an email.

And when the time comes... happy claiming!

UPDATE: slight adjustment to event dates - scroll down to see.

Hey everyone!

I’m here to kick things off for the April Challenge Month. Amy, isn’t it a little early to be talking about Challenge Month I hear you say? Well, that might just be because this year’s Challenge Month has a little extra added spice.

A few years ago we ran a little ole site event called the Artistic Anniversary Challenge. With this event, we flipped the switch. Instead of Authors writing and then Artists creating we put the reins in the hands of the banner makers. And they graced us with 79 pieces of shiny awesomeness (of which you can still find all listed here) and 44 of these were accompanied by the words of our talented site authors.

This event was a lot of fun, so much in fact, that we the mods have decided we want to do Part Deux. And what better time to run such an event, than during Challenge Month?

Welcome to your intro post to the 2021 Artistic April Challenge Month.

Here’s the sitch:

Artists:
We’re asking you to create a banner with the following specs:
Dimensions: Width 900px x Height 250px (maximum).
Text: In a small clear font (approx. 8-10pt) the following tagline along one of the banner edges: Designed for the Elysian Fields ‘Artistic April Challenge Month’. The title of the fic will be left up to the author, however suggestions can be posted with the banner if you think you have something that fits the art.
Fic Specifications: In a similar style to what you can find under the Challenges page on Elysian Fields, a Must Have, Can Haves, Can’t Haves list. No more than three specifications per category. An example of the email contents can found further in this post under the rules section.

If you are an artist in our archive community, and would be interested in participating, PLEASE reply to this post so we can gauge interest in the challenge. This also counts as your sign up. As soon as you comment you can begin creating! Once said banner (or banners) are complete, your art and the fic specifications are to be emailed to me at the following address, so they can be added to a master list page for the event: angelic.amy.fic@gmail.com

Authors:
Once the art has been created there will be a sign up process, where banners will be up for grabs. Each banner will ONLY be allocated once, and it will be first come, first serve. So make sure you pay close attention to signup dates. Sign-ups will be for your top three banner choices, in case your first or second is chosen.

Once your banner/challenge has been confirmed, we’re asking you to write a fic with the following specs:
Fic length: Minimum of 1,500 words, maximum is complete up to you.
Characters: Buffy, Spike, and any other characters shown in the banner or specified as part of the challenge.
Content Specifications: Must abide by the Must Have and Can’t Have items specified by the artist. Obviously the Can Haves is voluntary.
The banner must accompany the fic when it is posted on the archive. Modification of the banner with the fic title and your author penname should be discussed with the artist once the first part/chapter is ready for publishing. Authors, you will be put in contact with the banner artist during the banner confirmation stage. 

EVENT RULES AND REGS:
1) All fic entries MUST include both Buffy and Spike.
2) All banner entries MUST comply with the size restrictions.
3) All fic entries MUST meet the minimum word count.
4) All art entrants MUST complete the following form with their artwork:

     Artist Penname:
     Characters:
     Rating:
     Season/Episode: (if specific)
     Must Have:
     1)
     2)
     3)
     Can Have:
     1)
     2)
     3)
     Can’t Have:
     1)
     2)
     3)
     Permission to share your email address with the author who claims this artwork: Yes / No

5) All banners and specifics must be emailed to the address provided in this post.
6) Banner claims are for new fic only, not to be attached to an existing or previously published story.
7) There is no limit to the amount of banners an artist can make, nor fics an author can write.

EVENT DATES:
Banner submission: 10th – 26th of February
Banner claims open: 27th of February
Banner claims confirmed: 1st – 3rd of March ** 
Writing time: from banner confirmation (beginning 1st of March) onwards. Please do not write for a banner until you receive email confirmation it is yours.
Fic submissions: 1st – 30th of April
**Late claims of banners will be accepted if there is unclaimed art after initial confirmation window

Finally, one last message to potential participating authors. As this challenge is being run during the month of April, if the idea of participating in the banner signup process is a little overwhelming to you, the usual April Challenge Month process still applies. If you have a bunch of saved challenges already you can write one of those. And if you’ve yet to explore the challenges page, you can scroll through the multitude of ideas found here, select a challenge that works for you, and write to those specs. Challenges on the site can be filtered to include or exclude by categories, characters, dates added, most recent, etc.

That’s about it. If there are any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask!

Yours in Spuffy,
The Mods.

Hello again, darling EFers.

We have officially closed the book on 2020, a year that, despite being universally panned as just The Worst™, managed to be a pretty good one in terms of all things EF. If you missed it, be sure to check out the year-end wrap-up.

But 2020 is in the rearview, so we’re looking ahead. With this in mind, the EF Mod Team has brainstormed and implemented a few changes that we think, overall, you guys will like.

Bad News First

First, we’ll start with what we’re taking away. In order to continue providing excellent event-themed skins, we’re going to start phasing out some of the lesser-used and redundant skins. So, if your default is currently heaven, mobile, or mobile-night, we encourage you to search through the other available skins for an alternative.

However, when we take, we also give. The holiday skin, which has previously been unavailable for eleven months out of the year, is now available year-round.

New Categories! New Genres! New Warnings! New Everything!

One of the things that happens when you start a fanfic archive in 2006 and it’s still going strong 14 years later is…well, fandom changes. So we’re introducing a slew of genres, categories, and warnings for our authors to use going forward and, if they so choose, apply to any currently published work.

New Categories:

• Between Seasons (any) – For stories that are set, well, between seasons.
• Canon-Compliant – For those stories that maintain canon. Canon-Compliant is for the small subsect of fics that aren't canon divergences and don't change canon events (i.e., what we saw on-screen and/or read in comics). These may be missing scenes or stories that fill in gaps by telling the story that occurred off-screen/page but complements the established canon narrative without changing anything. Authors can choose at their own discretion whether or not canon includes the comics. If canon does include comics, then the fics in this category should be comic canon-compliant. 
• Vignettes – This isn’t new but it is in a new place. Previously, Vignettes was listed under Genre. We encourage everyone who had fics tagged with Vignette to edit these stories, as that tag was lost due to software limitations…in that we couldn’t “move” so much as “delete.” Sorry!
• Wishverse – For stories set in, you guessed it, the BtVS Wishverse.

New Genres:

• Slow-Burn – Typically applied to relationships that take time to develop, either romantically or sexually.
• Fix-It – Fixing something that went awry in canon.
• Kidnapping – Pretty sure this one needs no explanation.
• HEA/HFN – For authors who wish to assure readers that they aren’t torturing readers just to gut them in the end, stories can now be marked as HEA (Happy Ever After) or HFN (Happy For Now). Since so many readers prefer to read stories with an HEA, we thought readers might be encouraged to read more WIPs if they know that their pain and suffering will not be in vain.
• Tragedy – By the same token, if an author wishes to let readers know that there will be tears, and lots of them, fics can now be marked as Tragedy. Sometimes it’s better to know going in. It’s the way Shakespeare operated, after all!
• Mystery – For fics in which the Scooby Gang becomes the Scooby Gang.
• Prophecy – For fics in which a prophecy of some sort is prominently featured. This can range from Buffy’s death prophecies to end-of-the-world prophecies to the Shanshu Prophecy to create-your-own prophecy.
• Under Magical Influence – Our fancy way of classifying those Shag-or-Die fics; or conversely, Something Blue fics, or really any fic where magical hijinks play a prominent role in what a character does or says.
• Resurrection – Both Buffy and Spike like to die and come back. If your fic prominently features a Resurrection, this is the genre for you.

New Warnings:

• Underage Sex – It has been an EF Rule since the dawn of EF that stories with Underage Sex were strictly not allowed. Well, we were never good at enforcing this rule, and in terms of our fandom, it confuses things. Like, it’s canon that Buffy was sexually active before she was of legal age, so why shouldn’t those fics be included?

Thing is, when EF was founded, Underage Sex was a Big Fandom Concern™, thanks mostly to super popular fandoms like Harry Potter, which has a host of adult/child pairings that had parents in a moral panic over what their children were reading and what was being normalized. This is also one of the reasons that EF insisted on registered user accounts in which the user verified they were old enough to read explicit fiction. Believe it or not, that was not standard when we launched. But the year is 2021, and the world has changed. Since EF hasn’t really policed these fics and we really have no desire to do so, we added Underage Sex as a warning and removed the rule. We encourage authors to apply this warning on all fics where underage characters are described as being sexually active, regardless of whether or not the sex in question is explicit.

For the purposes of EF, we're defining Under Age as anything under 17, or when Buffy became canonically sexually active. However, authors are free to interpret Under Age as under 18 years old.

• Mental Health Issues – For stories that have a focus on a character’s mental health or wellness.
• Emotional/Psychological Torture – In recognition that torture doesn’t have to physically hurt to leave a scar.
• Physical Torture – What was the Torture warning has been amended to refer specifically to instances of Physical Torture.

Reminders

Just some things that you may not know or might have missed.

• New Award – In 2020, we launched a brand-new award to recognize authors who completed at least one of their fics within the year. We want to issue more of these awards at the end of 2021! (Hinty hint hint hint)
• EF Daily Backups – To be proactive in preserving site content, Holly will be performing daily backups of the EF Database, during which time the site will be inaccessible. These backups will occur between 10-11am site-time (EST/EDT) and result, typically, in no more than 10 minutes of site downtime. This reflects a change from the previously announced time, which was between 10:30-11pm.
• Site Probs – All technical/site issues should be emailed to ssolace@gmail.com rather than discussed in the ShoutBox or the Facebook group. 
• About Ratings – Fic ratings should be assigned based on the rating the fic warrants. While this isn’t a widespread issue, we have caught a few instances where a fic was given a rating that didn’t reflect the fic’s contents. We know NC-17 is the most popular rating, but fics with this rating should have content to match, and not just assigned this rating because of its popularity. Fics that are rated AO, NC-17, or R do not have to earn the rating in the first chapter, or even by the tenth chapter. The rating can be reflective of what the finished product’s rating would be, rather than what it has earned at the time of posting.

That’s all for now! Don’t hesitate to reach out to the mod team if you have any questions.

The holiday season is in full swing here at Elysian Fields! To celebrate the occasion, EF has again pulled our fabulous holiday banner from the vault for everyone to enjoy for the month of December. (Change your skin to our holiday theme by going to Account Info > Edit Preferences > Default skin: holiday)

A crew of Elysian Fields members is also hard at work helping Spuffy thwart Demon Santa’s evil scheming by participating in our very first Secret Santa event. We’ve had an incredible 51 members sign up to exchange fic gifts!!

What are the Secret Santa participation requirements again?

For those of you giving Secret Santa gifts (officially signed-up members only), you will be able to post your fics starting at 12:01am ET (site time) tomorrow December 1, and will be able to post until 11:59pm ET on December 31. All fics MUST be one-shots. That is, they must be one chapter composed of less than 15,000 words. Rest assured, your summary, story notes, chapter notes, and end notes do not count against your word count.

When publishing your gift, be sure to mark the checkbox shown below:

What event information do I need to include in my story?

You must include the following information in your summary or story notes: “This fic is an Elysian Fields 2020 Secret Santa gift for [giftee's name]"

It’s also recommended that you send your giftee a message once you’ve published the fic, so they don’t miss seeing it!

Banners: If you're including a custom banner with your fic, it must have "Designed for the Elysian Fields 2020 Secret Santa" legibly added to it.

Does a gift writer need to reveal their giftee’s preferences?

You do not! As with a standard Secret Santa, no preferences have to be mentioned publicly. However, if you want to attach your giftee's preferences to your story, please do so in your story end notes.

How do I find the stories that are being added to the Secret Santa?

All gift fics will be merrily marked with a Santa icon, which looks like the example below:

Additionally, all gift fics can be found on the 2020 Secret Santa event page. (You can also find this event page, as well as all of our other event pages by browsing for site events.)

What do I do if I realize I’m not going to be able to finish my gift fic by the deadline?

The last thing we want is for any member to end up giftless. While we have done our best to ensure that members are only participating with an understanding of their commitment, we know that life happens. So, if you find that you will be unable to write a fic for your giftee, you MUST reach out to OffYourBird (via ssolace@gmail.com or PM) by December 15 so that alternate arrangements can be made.

How can I help if someone ends up without a gift writer?

You can become a rescue writer! Rescue writers sign up by PM’ing or emailing OffYourBird. You do NOT have to be a signed-up Secret Santa participant to be a rescue writer. If you sign up to be a rescue writer, you will go on a list of writers available to rescue a gift, and you will be contacted by December 16 if someone is in need of your help.

We’re looking forward to much merriment at Elysian Fields this coming month --- Happy Holidays from the Mods!

Hey everyone,

Congratulations to everyone who participated in some way during the Trapped Challenge. We had record breaking event with 47 brand new fic created and shared. That's phenomenal! If you have yet to check out the new titles, you can FIND THEM ALL HERE. You’re welcome. 

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

• New fic – 47
• Chapters added – 153
• Words added – 458,193
• Banners created – 38 (not including chapter art)
• Comments received – 2,091
• Likes received – 3,776

THANK YOU: to the artists, betas, commenters and authors who contributed to this challenge – it wouldn’t be the success it was without all of you.

If you participated during challenge month as an author, artist or commenter you should find some pretty awards as a thank you for your participation on your profiles. Betas, we haven’t forgotten about you – your awards will be distributing tomorrow - I just want to double check (okay, triple check) that I haven’t missed anyone before pushing them out to accounts.
Update 8/11 - Beta awards have now been distributed.  

Authors, please remember that for your betas and artists to be eligible to receive an award for their work they must be credited in either the Story Notes for the fic or the Summary itself.

Artists, another reminder, to be eligible to receive an award the banner(s) you have created must have the following line of text visible on the banner somewhere: Designed for the Elysian Fields ‘Trapped’ Challenge.

If you believe you should have an award(s) and you’ve been missed by mistake, please shoot a PM to me (angelic_amy) and I'll make sure it is added to your profile.

Our default site skin has changed from the one created for the event, but never fear, the Trapped skin is not disappearing for good. It can be found as an option for you to select as your permanent skin if you want - check out your account settings to do this.

Thank you again to everyone who participated in the 2020 Trapped Challenge event, we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

And as always, happy reading!