LJ is great for speedy updates and getting to know the authors. But I haven't yet found a way to say to LJ, "Hey, I have a hankering to read a bunch of Post-The Gift Spike fic. Please, make me cry." Plus, it's so much easier to find all the chapters of an older story consolidated in an archive.

To pervert a song from Girl Scouts.. "Read new fic, but keep the old - one is silver and the other gold."

Anyway, I agree with those who are saying that you should take time and step away if that's what is best for your happiness and peace of mind. I just want you to hear (in case you don't hear it enough) that allaboutspike is anything but irrelevant. It's permanence - persistence.