Good Morning, Nine Lives Community!  (It’s still morning in Australia!)

Some recent events have occurred that prompts me to write this post.   I know I am not a very visible presence around the archive but I can assure you all that I am here daily, behind the scenes, and very much aware of things.  I want to talk about the archive a little bit, about how it came to be.  For those of you who know me or have been with us a little while, you might already know the story, but I do think there are some salient points that need to come across.

Something like 8 years ago, a group of fellow Spuffy shippers (Spike + Buffy) were deeply dissatisfied with how cruelly some writers were being treated by another archive.  We decided to take a stand, put our money where our mouths were, and set up our own archive where we could offer a community atmosphere, help, respect, and a place that was ultimately safe for readers to access their favourite authors.  Now Elysian Fields is one of the largest remaining Spuffy archives.  We did require a decent standard of writing and strongly promote the importance of betas—not just for picking up spelling and grammar errors but in forming a relationship with someone you trust who can tell you the truth about the way your fic is travelling.  For those of us who have used a beta, we can tell you it is of infinite value.  In requesting this we have never been rude to a writer—have never told them we thought their writing was bad and that we didn’t want them at the archive. We offer help and support but all in all, we want writing we can read and review and sometimes a writer might need help.  THAT was the crux of setting up Elysian Fields.

Nine Lives came about because I entered the Walking Dead Fandom and found a hole regarding accessible Caryl fanfiction.  I already knew how a community spirit could be fostered through an exclusive pairing archive, and I wanted people to be able to come to the fandom and find all the fic in one place.  Obviously this hinges on authors joining and posting their work here, and so many of you have been wonderful at encouraging writers to come and take part and through all of your support we have grown, and we will continue to grow as we can see the member numbers climb every day.  This archive was NOT free to set up, but it was my gift to all of you.  The only things I expected out of it was an appreciation of our lovely couple—Caryl—and a respecting, supportive community.  I believe that we have mostly achieved this and it makes me extremely happy and proud.  Fairies Masquerade and Susan are now also major reasons why this site is as successful as it is and I’d be nowhere without either of their help, support and contributions, so to see everyone’s support for them is incredibly uplifting. 

I do think some things need to be said, though, about some of the experiences here lately that have made it a little less pleasant behind-the-scenes than it could be, and they are things that Jessa and I have decided need to be addressed.  There are certain behaviours that we WILL NOT accept on this site. 

1) We will not condone members contacting other members through PM’s telling them how best they should update their work.  If a new writer comes and chooses to upload all their work at once, that is up to them. 

2) WE WILL NOT act like the writing police and tell another writer what they can or cannot write regarding their work in either McReedus or Caryl.  We have ratings for a reason and warnings and what one person might find unacceptable, another won’t.  We have never been in the habit of banning people due to kinks or content upsetting to just one member and we will not be starting now. 

3) We will not condone being told how to run the site in any way—which does not include any reasonable suggestions or input. 

4) We will not be held to ransom with threats of deleting fic.  If you don’t like how we run this site, feel free to leave.  We will not beg anyone to stay.  We also DO NOT BELIEVE that any one author’s following will make or break this archive.  If a writer chooses to leave because of issues with the staff (which is all donated time, I will add, coming from love and dedication to this ship) then we hope the readers will still remain to be entertained by the other writers here, but we will not beg you to stay if you wish to follow the writer.

The most important point, I think, is this. WE DO NOT OWE ANY ONE WRITER ANYTHING BECAUSE OF THE READERS THEY BRING INTO THE SITE.  This site is our gift to YOU, and I will never feel like I am indebted to one writer above all others for the support they have brought this site.  I would hope that our readers come to enjoy a multitude of writers, not just one, and that they stay because of the support and community that this site is all about.  Jessa and I will no longer tolerate the multitude of efforts to undermine other writers on this site, nor attempts to influence how we run things.  We are ALL playing by the same rules and it will stay fair and true to you all.

Thank you again for being here and for showing your support.  We would be nothing without all of you.

Megan