Research for Writers
A small collection of
useful links about BtVS, fanfiction, vampires, general mythology, history,
language, etc.
Maintained by Medea
reach me at medealives@hotmail.com
Buffy The Vampire
Slayer/Angel: The Series Information
I.
Holy Canon
Official Site: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (at UPN)
Official Site: Angel:the Series (at The WB)
II.
Series Facts and Analyses Compiled by Fans
Buffyguide.com
A complete episode guide to the series, as
well as other useful information.
Jonquil's Important Buffyverse
Willow/Spike Facts
Someone else has done all the work. One of
my favorite fanfic authors has compiled a list of useful facts about Willow and Spike -- from past history to living
quarters, and the episodes in which these details were revealed. Many thanks to
Jonquil!
The Slayer.net. Huge, detailed
site with episode guides, character guides, screencaps, a guide to slayspeak,
spoilers, you name it. Kind of a warehouse for All-Things-BtVS and All-Things-Ange.
http://www.theslayer.net/main.shtml
Writing Spike
Excellent, rich resource over at Fists & Fangs,
Jessica Walker's all-things-Spike website. Includes a timeline of Spike's
whereabouts and activities since being vamped, a family tree for the Order of
Aurelius, various essays on writing Spike's character, etc.
Fanfic
Archives
Need inspiration? Better writing comes
from extensive reading. Here are a few watering holes I tend to visit:
Note (Oct. 18,
2002) – fanfiction.net has been removed from my recommended
archives due to its ban on NC-17 fanfiction. I cannot in good conscience lend
my support to those who cave beneath Far-Right, family-values, conservative
attempts to restrict creative freedom on the Internet. I strongly encourage
readers to go seek out the archives where ALL stories are welcome. Let quality
determine what you read, not some arbitrary method of screening materials that
may or may not offend a vocal, narrow-minded, minority that wrongly claims to
speak for the majority.
Buffy
Fiction Archive. What makes this site cool is the posting interface AND the
amazingly versatile search engine. For writers, the posting interface is a
fairly simple way to archive their stories without having to hassle with
formatting. And that search engine? Woo hoo! Not limited to searching for your
favorite fic by author or title. Nuh-uh. If you want to see what's new in
Action/Adventure, or maybe any new Lorne stories, you can search by genre,
character, rating, you name it! Includes fic for both BtVS and AtS, all genres,
all characters, all pairings, you name it. http://archive.shriftweb.org/
Bite Me...Please?
Charity's wonderful archive for Willow-centric fanfiction. http://willsvamps.topcities.com/index.htm
Near Her Always. Kaz’s archive of Willow-centric fanfiction, every
possible pairing imaginable. Also includes fan-authored articles on Writing
Willow, a collection of Challenges, lists of Betas, etc. http://nearheralways.com/main.html
Slashing the Angel.
Feed your inner slashfic addict. Come on...you know you want to... http://www.ficbitch.com/slashingtheangel/home.html
My Immortal Beloved. Yet
another helping of slashfic! Everything in excess! http://www.my-immortal-beloved.co.uk/
On
Fanfic and Fanfic Writing
Bad Fanfic! No Biscuit
ROTFLMAO! A great site for brutally frank
explanations of the warning signs of bad fanfiction. Check out 'Revelations' by
Joan the English Chick for some particularly wicked BtVS badfic, and the
footnotes about classic badfic gaffes.
Dr. Merlin's Guide to
Fanfiction
An entertaining read, with a useful
section on Mary Sue-ism. Shoot, the Mary Sue Litmus Test is a total hoot, and
good, albeit tongue-in-cheek, advice.
Fanfiction FAQ maintained by Tara
O'Shea (LJC)
To my great delight, somebody else did all
the work of explaining anything you'd ever want to know about fanfic for me.
Why the $#@$ should I rewrite it? Has everything from recommendations of
sociological analyses of the fanfic phenomenon to guidelines about fanfic
writing DOs and DON'Ts.
UCSL - Unconventional
Relationshippers List maintained by Kate Bolin
Pie charts! Okay, that's not the sum total
of this site, but it has an interesting approach to fanfic. An endeavor to
gather info on fanfic readers/writers and come up with some data on why we do
what we do. The subversive in me loves the idea of fanfic as a way for
adolescent females to appropriate and subvert a male-dominated technology (the
Internet) in the interests of exploring their own sexuality. You go, girl!
zillah eisenstein would be proud. Damn straight -- a very convincing argument
for the fact that fanfic is more than a trivial little "hobby". I do
have ambivalent feelings about The Curse of the Willow
Sue -- not quite sure what it's saying about Willow-centric fic and the
idea that Willow can be a strong, dynamic character who grows beyond the
"side-kick" status she's had on the show -- but at least it allows me
to situate myself within a genre/field of production, what have you. Yes, I'll
confess before all the self-help, twelve-step programs of the world: "Hi,
I'm a new fanfic writer, and I write Willow Sue!!" Mea culpa. On a
completely different note, check out the main web site, dymphna.net, for a link to something with
pure, unadulterated entertainment value -- The Angel Drinking Game.
Now I just have to find someone who will play it with me...
Mythology, History, and
Other Storytelling Resources
Antiqua
Medicina: Aspects in Ancient Medicine an online exhibit at the University of Virginia
Ancient and classical views of life, death, disease and
healing, including a link on healing cults and sanctuaries.
The Best of British Slang
A great cheat-sheet for British slang
terms for those of us Yanks who really love Spike, but don't quite have his
speech patterns and vocabulary down.
The Biblioteca Arcana
maintained by Bruce MacLennan, Assoc. Professor of Computer Science at U.
Tennessee
A collection of links and documents on
Greek mythology, rituals, alchemy, etc. Includes a useful site on the
Pythagorean pentacle.
Dark Goddess
maintained by Robin Weare
No, this is not a Drusilla site. The
web-mistress created the page out of frustration with New Age-y sweetness and
light -- in her own words, she's been tempted to form "the Negative,
Unhappy, Man-Hating, Castrating Feminist Bitches Coven." Examines the
darker side of goddesses (Artemis, Hecate, Kali) and monsters.
Greek Mythology Link
hosted by the Hellenic Students' Association at Brown University
Includes biographies of Greek gods,
goddesses and heroes, an index of mythological creatures, summary of some of
the classic epics (creation myths, voyage of the Argonauts, Trojan War,
Heracles, etc.)
Lucky Mojo maintained by
Catherine Yronwode
Amulet Archive is useful for ideas about
amulets and other magic paraphernalia. This site has its commercial side, so
pick and choose as you will.
Myths & Legends
maintained by Christopher Siren
An utterly exhaustive collection of links
on just about any myth, legend, religion, cosmology, folklore, etc. you can
imagine. Everything from Igbo storytelling, the Hawaiian chant of Creation,
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and the birth of gothic horror, the
formation and structure of the Aztec universe, links to premier mythology
encyclopedias, Sufi-Muslim folktales....good grief! Stop your search, you've
found the place for All Things Mythic HERE!
Nature Spirits of the
World maintained by Kathleen Jenks, PhD of the Pacifica Graduate Institute.
A clearinghouse of links to other websites
about fairies, Russian, Norwegian and Celtic folklore, mermaids and water
sprites.
Pathway to Darkness
Self-described as "the ultimate
online vampire resource", and it does indeed have extensive resources on
vampire lore. It definitely has its commercial side, but the link to Vampire Facts
takes you to some useful research, although some of it leans toward the
sensational rather than the scholarly. Pick and choose as you will.
Personal
Favorites -- Miscellaneous
I don't really know
what to call this. Show and Tell? Exhibitionism? 'About the Webmistress'?
Whatever. These are just leftover bits of what helps set the mood for writing
for me, various sources of inspiration. In the end, you find it where you can.
WRITINGS:
Anything by Edgar Allen Poe.
Tahar Ben-Jelloun, The Sand Child. A rich, brilliant work of fiction, and an
incredible study of the relationship between the storyteller and identity.
Summarizing the plot is easy: it follows the life of a young girl, daughter to
a wealthy Arab, whose father raises her as a boy because he has no sons. What's
really fascinating is the shift in narrative voice, and the many, complex
layers that surround the identity of the protagonist. Perhaps one of the
most sophisticated approaches to the whole question of how identity is
constructed I've yet read, and an excellent source of inspiration for anyone
interested in focusing on characters and different approaches to revealing
them. Helps if you understand a little about the history of French colonialism
in North Africa.
Barbara Kingsolver, The Poisonwood Bible. Another brilliant work that centers around the
development of characters and multiple narrative voices. The novel chronicles
the experiences of the wife and daughters of a zealous American missionary in Africa from the 1950s through the 1990s. Each chapter
unfolds through the perspective of a different female character -- the stern,
dogmatic father remaining central to the drama, but never taking the position
of narrator. As such, the tale is a fascinating example of power relations in
the traditional, paternalist household, and how each of the characters evolves
as the family slowly falls apart in the wake of tragedy. Definitely engrossing,
and will leave you thinking for a long time.
MUSIC:
Britten. A Ceremony of Carols
Durufle. Requiem
Dvorak. Slavonic Dances
Dvorak. Stabat Mater
Faure. Requiem
Mozart. Laudate Dominum from Vesperae
Solennes de Confessore
Mozart. Requiem
Ravel. Daphnis et Chloe
Ravel. Trio in A Minor
Respighi. Pines of Rome and Fountains of Rome
Tallis. Spem In Alium
Broken
or bad link? Dammit!! Clue me in...
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