OK. Last year my New Year's Resolution was to finish all those Jossverse WIPs I've got. Yeah, didn't happen. So... *takes deep breath* This year my New Year's Resolution is to finally get off my ass and say what I've sort of known has been the case for far too long but have been too chickenshit to say before. Namely:

As of now, I am no longer writing BtVS or AtS fanfiction. Yes, that means that the three WIPs I have left (and that one fic I put on indefinite hiatus looooooong ago) will never be finished. And, yes, I'm sorry to everyone who was waiting for updates of 'The Crimson Codex', 'My Kingdom for a Kiss', and 'Beyond Good and Evil'. For a long time, I thought I could force myself to plug through them, even though my interest in the Jossverse was long gone. But I've come to realize that I just can't do it, and they will never get done.

It's not that I hate Jossverse or Spuffy or Spillyria or anything. It's just, to quote Spike, "I'm paralyzed by not caring very much." There was a time when I thought and fantasized about these characters for fun. They were my form of recreation, and a highly enjoyable one at that. However, over the last couple of years, their little voices (and, no, not in the crazy sense; in the writing bantery dialogue sense :P) have been becoming more and more silent. I haven't read Jossverse fiction for pleasure in ages. When I see that Buffy or Angel reruns are on TV, I have no interest in seeing them and switch the channel. Simply (and repetitively :P) put: My interest in this 'verse is gone.

And this is not the fault of my other fandoms. Neither Alias nor Veronica Mars is 'to blame' for my decision to quit. My interest in Buffy was fading long before I watched either of these shows, and - even before I discovered them - my plot and dialogue writing had turned from Spike and headed toward original characters. The new fandoms just helped to fill a void which was already present. And, just to be clear: I still fully intend to write Alias and Veronica Mars fiction. So, anyone who hangs around for that has nothing to fear.

However, this leaves me with a bit of a predicament with my WIPs. I know some other authors who left the fandom have handed them off to other people to finish. But, given that I've got pretty specific outlines for how all my fics were supposed to go, I would think that - even if someone wanted to finish one of my stories - it wouldn't be fun or creative and would be more drudgery than anything else. There's also that whole bit where no one could write them exactly the way I would, you know? So I just don't think handing them off to someone else is a solution that works for me, personally. However, I do realize that I've left cliffhangers and loose ends and all that nasty stuff. So, I propose this compromise: I'm putting up my outlines online, so people - if they are so inclined - can see how my WIPs would have turned out. I realize that this is probably officially considered 'not cool' and, if you want to call me a horrible!bad!incompetent person for this, then I'm prepared to take your worst. (Well, not really, because who ever really is? But I can at least understand why someone would feel this way...) For those who are interested, the outlines (tidied up to be comprehensible to people who aren't me :P) for the unwritten portions of my WIPs are here:

The Crimson Codex ~ My Kingdom for a Kiss ~ Beyond Good and Evil

So, there, now I've given away all my secret plot twists, and it's done. ~_^ All my completed fics (as well as the WIPs which I'll be moving to a less prominent location) will remain up indefinitely on my website. So nothing's going anywhere, I promise; it's just that nothing new will be written.

And this isn't to say that I didn't love the Buffy fandom, or that I don't still love all the people I've met through it and all the great authors and artists I've discovered. BtVS fandom was a damn fun experience when I was into it. Most of the friends I've met online, I met through the Buffy fandom, and I'm in the fandom's debt for that. So, despite the fact that I'm no longer going to be writing Jossverse, this isn't a slight to anyone personally, and I have no intention of defriending anyone or, actually, changing my behavior of late in any way whatsoever. I'm just stopping all those old WIPs from hanging over my head and stressing me out unnecessarily. However, I will perfectly understand if anyone who's here for the Buffyverse chooses to unfriend me over this. After all, everyone's interests change over time and people drift apart. Please, feel free to unfriend me if all you care about is my Buffy fic; I promise not to be offended in the slightest, and it was nice knowing you all! ^_^

And I think that's all I have to say. It may be badly worded or disappointing to some people, but I've tried to be as honest as possible about matters I've been considering for a long time, and ultimately I'm very happy that I've finally made this choice.

Tags: btvs