I'm kind of a newbie at this, but what is the difference between bitey and bloodplay when talking about fics?

To me, I think bitey in itself is the actual biting, while bloodplay is the whole sexual bit where vampire bites are used in a more in forepaly and during intercourse. I could be wrong, I'm relatively new too.

DanielNieves

To me, I think bitey in itself is the actual biting, while bloodplay is the whole sexual bit where vampire bites are used in a more in forepaly and during intercourse. I could be wrong, I'm relatively new too.

That's how I've always perceived it too. Bitey can be any type of vamp biting, but bloodplay is supposed to be inherently sexual. :)

But bitey doesn't necessarily mean a claim fic?  It just means he bites her.  Though it seems that lots of bitey is claim.

 But bitey doesn't necessarily mean a claim fic?  It just means he bites her.  Though it seems that lots of bitey is claim.

You just blew my mind, lol. I have no idea if bitey has to include a claim or not. I thought it was just any time Spike bit Buffy, but I could be wrong.

:::looks around helplessly for someone more knowledgeable than herself:::

Nah, bite doesn't automatically mean claim.  A claiming, as I understand it, is something specific and intentional, and is supposed to mean...something in particular.  Being bit is just that- being bit.

For instance- Harmony didn't claim (nor was she trying to claim) Willow that one time...She just bit her.

Sorry to blur this more, but biting doesn't actually have to be "vampire" bites as in breaking skin. Humans do biting, where you nip and bite... can even leave marks. By the same turn, humans do bloodplay as well without vampire biting - you can use knives and other blades, and other such things to inflict surperficial light wounds just to get a little blood going. Both are very prevalent in the "real vampire" community which I used to hang around, and not necessarily just a supernatural thing, of course. It's a whole sadist/masochist thing - some people love giving pain and some love getting the pain - some like both

Does that make sense? I can try to find a link or *something* if it's not

 I can try to find a link or *something* if it's not.

Now, see, I find myself very intrigued by the "or something". :P

Thanks for the info Scarlet and BF. :)

I think you can have one without the other, but 'bitey/claimy' applies to a large subset of Spuffy fic.  I've seen only a few fics with 'bloodplay' tags that aren't about biting (like stories where Spike eats out a menstruating Buffy).   But I'll admit that bitey/claimy isn't my absolute favorite so this is not an expert opinion.

Waited to see what everyone else had to say before chiming in.

*chime!*

To me, "bitey" simply means there will be biting - some vampire will bite somebody.  Possible in a "friendly" fashion during sex, or in a claim. It doesn't have to be Spike and Buffy - although, on this site it probably will be. Other vampires bite too.

I think of "bloodplay" as being any form of blood involvement. Could be Buffy cutting herself to let Spike drink from her, could be Spike enjoying a monthly treat, could be during a torture scene where small cuts are kept open so that the vamp can snack on a victim. And so forth.  Basically, any action or plot device that involves the presence of blood.  It could be Buffy biting Spike in an effort to claim him.  So, "bloodplay" would be the broad term that indicates any sort of blood letting or drinking, while bitey indicates that the bloodplay comes from an actual bite of some sort - often, but not always, a claiming bite.  As msclawdia pointed out, you can easily have one without the other.

Okay - not awake yet - obviously you can't have bitey without bloodplay, but you can have bloodplay without bitey/claimy.

Wow, this is a lot more complicated than I would have guessed.

:::resolves to keep everyone's teeth - and blood - to themselves in her stories:::

:P

Wait- you can have bitey without bloodplay... Imagine Anya and Xander.

And "bloodplay" insinautes to me it involves some kind of sexual nature (cause of the "play" part).  Making people or beings bleed for torturous reasons, I wouldn't personally define as bloodplay.

:P

Well, since this is a vampire/Spuffy site, "bitey" pretty much by definition means a vamp bite. No one much cares what Xander and Anya get up to. LOL 

*shrugs*  I've always associated the "bloodplay" with anything involving blood - meaning the shedding or ingesting of it is involved. But I could be wrong.  You'd have to ask Bloodshedbaby, who started this archive, what she had in mind.  Dia might know. Maybe she'll see the tag and pipe up.  I figured it was just a way to let readers know that the fic, or the fics on the archive, we all going to have biting and bleeding (violence, in other words) - not necessarily sex-related.  There are other ways to play, you know...:)  Originally, the archive was only for fics that involved bloodplay and biting. And the bloodletting wasn't always a part of sex. Not that I can recall, anyway.  It seems to me I read a lot of rather violent, bloody fics where nobody was getting much of anything except hurt. :)   But, again, memory is elusive. lol