Elysian Fields :: The Definitive Spuffy Fanfiction Archive

Fic Tag Definitions

Ratings | Categories | Genres | Warnings

Ratings

The ratings at Elysian Fields are as follows. Please do your best to label your story with the appropriate rating and warnings so that readers can make an informed decision about what to read. If you're not sure which rating or warnings to choose, please ask an Administrator. Elysian Fields reserves the right to change a story's rating and add warnings if it is deemed necessary.

G: Suitable for any audience. Content should be free of coarse language, violence, and adult themes.
PG: Contains content with minor action violence, or mild coarse language. Should not contain any adult themes.
PG-13: Contains content with some violence, coarse language, or suggestive adult themes.
R: Contains non-explicit adult content, themes, and/or language.
NC-17: Contains explicit adult content, themes, and/or language.
Adult Only: Contains explicit adult content, themes, and/or language that may be disturbing to some readers (eg, incest, graphic torture, etc)

Genres

Action/Adventure: a fic involving dangerous and/or exciting (often fast-paced or geographically exploratory) plot elements
Angst: a fic involving emotional pain, turmoil, or anxiety
Apocalyptic/Dystopian: a fic set during or after an apocalypse or end-of-the-world scenario.
Dark: a fic that deals with disturbing themes, often featuring elements of hopelessness, despair, and trauma
Drama: a character-driven story with various possible elements of action/adventure, melodrama, horror, and/or angst
Dramedy: a fic that combines the elements of drama and comedy
Erotica: a fic that contains subject matter that is erotically stimulating or sexually arousing
Established Relationship: a fic in which Spike and Buffy are an established couple from the offset
Fighting: a fic that significantly features verbal or physical fighting, or in which verbal or physical fighting is graphically portrayed
Fix-It: a fic that fixes something that went awry in canon
Fluffy/Comedy: a fic that focuses on happy emotions or situations, and which often does not have substantial plot elements
HEA/HFN: a fic that will conclude in an HEA (Happily Ever After) or an HFN (Happy For Now) for Spike and Buffy
Historical: a fic in any category or genre that take place (in full or in part) in an era prior to 1990
Horror: a fic that plays upon the audience’s primal fears
Humor: a fic that is comedic in nature
Hurt/Comfort: a fic involving the physical pain or emotional distress of one character, who is cared for by another
Kidnapping: a fic in which a character is abducted as a main component of the plot
Lighthearted: a fic that is lighter in tone and theme
Mystery: a fic featuring a prominent mystery for the characters to solve
Parody: a fic created to mock or comment on another work by means of satire or ironic imitation, usually for comedic effect
Porn w/ Plot: a fic in which sexual encounters and the story’s plot are of equal focus
Porn w/o Plot: a fic in which sexual encounters are the primary focus
POV: a fic told exclusively through one character’s perspective, usually in first-person narration
Prophecy: a fic in which a prophecy of some sort is prominently featured
Queer Themes: a fic that involves Spike and/or Buffy exploring some aspect of nonstandard gender/sexual representation (i.e. female Spike and Buffy, Spike and male Buffy, either character as trans, non-binary, etc.) As with all Elysian Fields stories, the main pairing must be Spuffy-centric
Resurrection: a fic in which a character’s resurrection is a prominent theme
Road Trip: a fic that involves travel and/or takes place at a location other than Sunnydale, California
Romance: a fic that focuses heavily on a romantic relationship
Slow-Burn: a fic containing relationships that take time to develop, either romantically or sexually
Tragedy: a fic that will conclude with tragic events and/or consequences
Under Magical Influence: a fic in which magical hijinks dramatically alter what a character says or does

Warnings

Abortion: contains extended discussion of terminating a pregnancy and/or the actual termination of a pregnancy
Abuse: contains the physical, mental, or sexual abuse of a character. While torture and abuse can overlap, for the purposes of tagging your work, they are differentiated in that abuse is sustained over time while torture occurs over a shorter timespan.
Adult Language: includes graphic language generally considered profane or vulgar
Animal Abuse: contains the abuse or death of an animal
Attempted Rape: includes the attempted sexual assault of a character(s). Rape is defined as sex between two characters where the victim does not or cannot freely give consent or does not or cannot freely refuse.
Attempted Suicide: includes a character attempting or a character who has attempted suicide
Blood Play: includes deliberate cuts or bites meant to release blood during sexual activity
Buffy/Other (Temp): a brief pairing of Buffy with someone other than Spike
Character Death: includes any character death that has an emotional impact on the reader and/or characters. Does not need to include canon villains who are expected to die
Cheating/Infidelity: includes a character being unfaithful to their partner with another party
Child Abuse: includes references to or depictions of situations in which a child is physically, sexually, or mentally abused
Depictions of Bigotry: contains characters making prejudicial statements and/or offensive slurs regarding race, gender, ability, orientation, religion, or class, including incidentally. (Not to be confused with authors making such remarks.) Authors are asked to use their discretion here as to what qualifies as bigotry, as a full explanation on where we're drawing lines could quickly become a six-page essay. If you have any questions on a specific fic, you can contact the mods — we are happy to consult. Please be aware that if you do not use the warning and it comes to Mod attention, we reserve the right to reach out and address the situation.
Dubious Consent: includes sexual content in which consent is not clearly present or established
Fetish: includes sexual content in which gratification is linked to an abnormal degree to a particular object, item of clothing, part of the body, etc.
Gun Violence: contains depictions of firearms being aimed or fired at individuals, often (but not always) resulting in injury or death
Human!Spike: includes depictions of Spike in a supernatural Buffyverse setting in which Spike is human
Incest: contains depictions of a romantic and/or sexual relationship between family members, whether related by blood or marriage. If the latter, situations in which the characters in question were raised as and/or regarded each other as family prior to their romantic and/or sexual involvement.
Infertility Issues/Miscarriage: includes depictions of or references to struggles with conceiving a child and/or the unplanned loss of an unborn child
Mental Health Issues: focus on a character’s mental health or wellness
None: no archive warnings apply
Rape (Actual): includes graphic depictions of rape. Rape is defined as sex between two characters where the victim does not or cannot freely give consent or does not or cannot freely refuse.
Rape (Implied): alludes or infers to a rape of a character. Rape is defined as sex between two characters where the victim does not or cannot freely give consent or does not or cannot freely refuse.
Sexual Situations: includes or alludes to consensual sexual activity
Sexual Violence: a sexual act committed or attempted by another person using a variety of tactics, where the victim does not or cannot freely give consent or does not or cannot freely refuse. Sexual violence can occur in person, online, or through technology, such as posting or sharing sexual pictures of someone without their consent, or non-consensual sexting, and can include unwanted sexual contact or unwanted sexual experiences that do not include contact. This warning should be used when forms of sexual violence not covered by another warning are present in a work.
Slavery: includes depictions of ownership and/or exploitation that a person cannot refuse or leave because of threats, violence, coercion, deception, and/or abuse of power. Not to be confused with BDSM or consensual practices that explore these themes.
Spike/Other (Temp): includes a brief pairing of Spike with someone other than Buffy
Substance Use/Abuse: includes the use of illegal substances and/or the abuse of legal or illegal substances
Suicidal Ideation: includes thoughts and/or consideration of suicide
Suicide: includes a character taking their life
Taboo: includes content that is culturally considered repulsive or sacred by mainstream audiences
Threesome(s): includes sexual encounters with three partners
Torture (Emotional/Psychological): includes assault on a character’s mind/mental well-being. While torture and abuse can overlap, for the purposes of tagging your work, they are differentiated in that abuse is sustained over time while torture occurs over a shorter timespan.
Torture (Implied): alludes or infers torture of a character. Torture can be emotional/psychological or physical, and is defined as assault on a character’s mind/mental well-being or body. While torture and abuse can overlap, for the purposes of tagging your work, they are differentiated in that abuse is sustained over time while torture occurs over a shorter timespan.
Torture (Physical): includes assault on a character’s body, including physical violence and sexual violence. While torture and abuse can overlap, for the purposes of tagging your work, they are differentiated in that abuse is sustained over time while torture occurs over a shorter timespan.
Underage Sex: includes sexual activity among characters who are under 17 years of age, in some cases 18, at the author’s discretion
Vampire!Buffy: stories in which Buffy is turned into a vampire or spends a considerable amount of time as a vampire
Violence: contains graphic depictions of violence
Voyeurism: contains depictions of character(s) being observed without their knowledge or consent, by another character(s), often but not always in sexual situations or situations that can be considered titillating, such as states of undress