hils | Big Buffy Post

Well, it's been 10 years to the day since Welcome to the Hellmouth first aired. In some ways it feels like a lifetime ago and in other ways it feels like only yesterday.

I actually have

supernaturalhel to thank for the discovery of a show that has impacted my life in so many ways. We watched Buffy the Movie together, loved it and laughed a lot. Then Helen told me they'd made a TV show to follow on from the film and of course I had to watch. It was love at first sight. Not only did it have all the wit and humour of the movie but it had lost all the camp silliness that made the movie a little on the ridiculous side and replaced it with teen angst where vampires and demons were metaphors for the crap people my age were going through

As Buffy grew so did I. We graduated at the same time, started college at the same time (thankfully there were no explosions and no Riley in my life) and overall there was always something in the show that I could apply to what was going on with me. When Buffy closed the Hellmouth for good and destroyed Sunnydale I was just moving from youth into full adulthood. Our journeys were complete.

Then of course there was the fandom aspect. I'd been a fan of shows and bands in the past of course, but Buffy was the first time I'd actively interracted with other fans on any sort of regular basis. For the first time I felt part of a community instead of just sitting quietly and enjoying something on my own.

In fact the Buffy fandom had a lot of firsts for me. My first fanfic (the less said about it the better really), my first collaborative writing effort (with

richess and not something I have done in any other fandom), I taught myself how to use PSP so I could make Buffy icons, I attended my first convention (waves to the OGD girls still on my flist) and I met James Marsters a bunch of times (the groping and the arguments will be etched in my brain for a long while). I don't think I've ever felt more part of a family than I have with my fellow Buffy fans. Together we were able to give something back to a show that had brought so much to so many and we were able to console each other through the nightmare that was Season 6.

It hasn't always been a smooth ride. There's been the usual kerfuffles and wank that dominate all fandoms but for me it has mostly been a pleasant time.

So the point of this post really is to tip my hat to what has probably been the best show I've ever watched and to one of the best fandoms there has ever been. Yes, there have been other fandoms for me but nothing really comes close to the sense of beloging and friendship that I've had with my fellow Buffy fans

And to close I bear some celebratory gifts

Yes, after 4 years this baby is done! I didn't realise how long it had been until I checked today. I can only apologise to people who have been reading it since the beginning. I have no excuses, I just suck. LOL. I hope the final chapter will go at least some way to making up to you all. For those of you who are new to it, enjoy!

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