slaymesoftly

Fan
Name:	slaymesoftly
Alias(es):
Type:	writer
Fandoms:	Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Communities:
Other:
URL:	Elysian Fields, Ao3, Bloodshedverse, FFN, Spuffy Realm
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slaymesoftly is a prolific fanwriter in Buffy the Vampire Slayer fandoms. They primarily write Spuffy fics.

Fannish Bio

I am a writer in the world of BtVS and AtS (with a venture into a couple of TW xovers, and one xover with Lucifer). Primarily Spuffy, but with some Spander, Spangel, Gethan and the odd gen or Spike/other ficlet. Spike is my vamp. And, unless he shanshues, he always will be a vamp, and Buffy will always be a slayer. Don't look for any AH here. I firmly believe that Buffy, Spike, Angel, and all the other characters in that world are WHO they are, because of WHAT they are. Take that away, and you don't have the same characters, and I'm not interested in them. :)

My complete works can also be found at AO3; the strictly Spuffy ones are also on the Bloodshedverse, Elysian Fields and other archives.

Many of these fics were written a long time ago when I was primarily posting on a site that required some sort of blood play in a fic. Not really a problem when you're writing about vampires, but still... lots of blood play, claiming, biting, etc in many of these early fics. doesn't seem to care about warnings, and I'm not big on them either, so there may be unpleasant surprises occasionally. Probably 90% of what I write is Spuffy and eventually ends in a happy place, but not everything is or does; and even if there's a happy ending for Spike and Buffy, it's possible somebody died on the way there. Consider that fair warning...

Fiction often has villains, bad people or creatures who do bad, evil things. In my stories, they almost always get their just desserts, but until they do, terrible things can happen. No apologies for that, and I'm not likely to warn for it. On the other hand, I'm not inclined to write extremely graphic violence or torture, so it's probably not a big deal. Just keep in mind that not everything is going to be fluffy. And, my stories are written for adults, about adults, so there will not often be children in the stories, and I don't expect children to be reading them. So please don't.

I keep pruning this profile to make it shorter, then finding things I should add. *sigh* I think, given that there's no way to indicate that a group of fics go together or are set in one particular "verse", I am going to give a list of my alternate worlds so you don't have to search too hard to figure out what goes where. So...

The I Know You verse - starts with Prologue to Life/I Know You and continues with I Know You, II, Knowing and Watching, Pop Goes the Weasel, and Meanwhile Back on the Hellmouth. This is kind of ongoing, so there may be additions to it from time to time. Prologue is set immediately after "Chosen" and I Know You begins a year or so later, then becomes a time-travel fic going back to Season 2. Most of the other stories are set in an alternate world in which season 2 Spike and Buffy find themselves. There is, however, some crossover with the more familiar world of Sunnydale's Spike and Buffy.

The Bumpverse - Begins with Things That Go Bump in the Night and continues with A Bumpy Christmas, a whole slew of Bumpverse Schmoop Bingo ficlets set in that world and probably posted on here as a group, and Always Knew I'd Go Down Fightin' which pretty much wraps it up many years in the future. Things That Go Bump takes place in an AU future several years after the end of BtVS and AtS TV shows. No comics knowledge needed, although if you're familiar with them you may catch a reference somewhere. No plans to add to this world at this time, but you never know what bunnies might pop up someday.

Loves Lost Series - This begins with an AU season 2 in which Angel loses his soul when he is being drained to save Dru and goes on from there. Totally AU from then on - fics are Loves Lost, Love Awakened, Love Continued, and Love Sanctioned. Much darker than my normal stuff, but lightens up as it goes on.

The Gentleman Wore Leather Series - begins with the title fic and goes on through The Gentleman Takes His Leave, The Gentleman Leaves Again, and The Gentleman Returns. The first fic is just a semi-porny Halloween twist, the rest are Spike and Buffy working their way into a relationship until Buffy's Cruciamentum where Angelus makes a re-appearance. It doesn't go well for him...

The I Would Still Have Loved You series - begins with time travel from post Chosen era back to season 4. Each story deals with Buffy and Spike's adventures in that season as they try to disrupt time as little as possible, while still preventing anything really bad (like Buffy dying) from happening. Part 1 is IWSHLY, Part 2 is All About the Mission, and Part 3 is titled Almost Home. Part 4 is "And I Still Do (love you) and it is now complete.

I think these are the only ones with enough fics set in them to be called actual verses. Lots of my fics have sequels, but unless there is more than one sequel, I'm not calling those series.

Example Works

Fanfiction

• Sunshine and Shadows, a Spuffy fic that goes Au from Becoming (Part 2)
• What if I Loved You?, What if Spike was the one to save Buffy when she was staked by a vampire, not Riley?
• To Save a Lady, is a time travel fic in which Buffy learns more about William and about Spike.

Series

• The I Know You Verse

Begins just after [[[post-Chosen|Chosen]], then goes to an AU season two where the Spike that comes to Sunnydale meets a Slayer he isn't ready for. But she is ready for him...

• The I Would Still Have Loved You series (Ao3). Crossposted at Elysian Fields.

A what if fic in which Buffy and Spike are sent back in time (separately, and unbeknownst to each other) from sometime not terribly long after "Chosen". Think AtS season five. Their mission is to prevent Glory from opening the portal and thus prevent Buffy's death and reincarnation; thereby preventing the rise of the First Evil. For whatever reason, they both end up in Season Four, rather than when they need to be.

• The John & Buffy Series (Ao3). Crossposted at Elysian Fields.

Ten years after NFA, Buffy has adjusted to a new life when she runs into a familiar man while Christmas shopping. Even though he can't remember her, or his previous life, they are drawn to one another.

Meta

• thinky thoughts on Mary (Gary) Sues (April 15, 2010)