Re: B/W fics (or more precisely, non-B/W fics)

[danspector@xxxxxxxxx]

De Andra, 

Hi, welcome to the list. What it was, was that in the early days there
weren't so many lists for femslash, and Rod (our venerated, vagabond,
and [temporarily] vanished listdad) felt that a good way to encourage
authors to keep coming back to B/W was to allow them to stray
occasionally if they felt like it. So "other couple" fics are allowed
in moderation. For example, Pat Kelly got some flak when he first
started writing B/F, but by allowing it (the fics, not the flak), Rod
also got "Questioning Dreams" and its sequels from him. (Plus, since
Pat's fics were a good portion of the inspiration for forming this list,
and since they're so damn good, only a crazy person would turn them
away...) 

My general rule (which is more severe than the actual list rule, and has
no real authority) is that I figure it's all right as long as it

a) involves Buffy or Willow in an f/f way
b) is non-canon (because the Willow/Tara lists are bigger than ours and
I personally feel a need to stick up UC-'shippers, those of us who see
beyond the surface of the show), and 
c) isn't the sum total of the writer's output. Give us some B/W
goodies, and you earn the right for an occasional B/C digression, or
whatever. (Besides, yumm, Cordy! Okay, I'm drifting.)

Anyway, now that there are more femslash lists, there's probably less
B/F than there was here in the early days (I'm guessing you're working
your way through the archive), but we're still open to alternative
pairings. (Except incest ficBuffy/Dawn goes elsewhere, not here.)
Although Rod's own particular preference was always for B/W, or failing
that, a Willow pairing (never did like Buffy "cheating" on her girl).  

Anyway, if you want to skip over the B/Fs, that's fine: it just gets
you to the B/W stuff sooner. In any event, enjoy.

(And if someone who was actually on the lists in the early days wants to
correct anything I've said [Kimber? Shadow?], please listen to them and
not my half-assed guesstimates of what was going on back when I myself
was still pulling for B/X and thinking the Internet was an overhyped
waste of time. Okay, so I'm slow, but I'm here **now**, okay? Good.)

Once again, hope the occasional variant doesn't throw you, and glad to
have you here.

Dan