Gwyn Symonds is a special education teacher, a part-time doctoral student at the Department of English, University of Sydney, and a full-time Spike fan. Her interest in Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a part of her research into the larger question of representations of violence in contemporary texts. She admits to an ongoing struggle to separate her fandom from her academic stance and to prevent her writing on Buffy from running away with her thesis. The same can be said for her writing on the show itself, where she fights a valiant battle to avoid revealing she thinks the show is all about Spike. Her recent article on Spike fandom is an example of her ongoing interest in the ways that the subtext can become the text when received by the audience or, maybe, just an excuse to justify being on Spike fan internet groups 24/7! Gwyn can be contacted at gbsymonds@iprimus.com.au.