For forty five minutes each day I lose myself in a world where vampires exist and one girl alone can save us all. “She is the slayer”

I’m and avid fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I’m questioning why… I don’t fall into categories often and I’m definitely not a fan of hype or jumping on a passing bandwagon. Television is addictive. I know people who use it as “replacement therapy” Any addictive tendencies can be cured with the blue flicker. Yeah….of course they can. 

I’m going to pause. Just taking a moment to say…I’m loving this. This spilling of thoughts. Like having my own padded cell to rant and scream in peace without feeling guilty in fear of recriminations.

Back to the point…Why do I rate Buffy above say … (I really don’t watch much TV so this bit’s testing me) Doctor Who. It’s the only other TV show I’ve watched as much. 

Mostly it’s attachment. My attachment to the characters wasn’t hindered or put on hold when a new improved superhero came along or the writer changed and the universe imploded. It has an ending. 

Yeah I can buy all the usual action figures to prove my love of the show, but I don’t. My love of the show has nothing to to with the merchandise baggage that comes with it.  Joss Whedon wrote something extremely special no amount of bobbleheads can alter that or make me more enthusiastic about BtVS than I already am. 
It’s the side of fandom that I don’t buy into. That and how the fact that you spend more somehow means you really do love something…. 
“The best things in life aren’t things” 

When Buffy the Vampire Slayer first aired on BBC2 (never had Sky) I was living in a studio flat in a converted house. The happiest house I’ve ever known. I was working in a pub. I had to save to buy half a season on VHS. In 1997 bragging rights didn’t much exist.  

 
Happy house and a Bobblehead. 
  
Creepy looking things. All face and no apparent likeness to the thing they are associated to.
In 98 I moved, packed my VHS season and upped sticks. Taking my love of BtVS with me. It remains one of the few constants in my life. Would I part with it? Fight me and find out. 
In 98 I also won a competition on C4s Big Breakfast. Everything you need to be a student. Which included a computer. Something I would probably never had bothered with until much later. I’ve never been associated with a disposable income. Most of my life has been of a “needs must” ideology. Which I’m extremely grateful for. 

So this world of fandom was right there in front of me. The BBC Cult TV message boards was my first real glimpse at the obsessive behaviour of some. That said it was a beautiful place to chat about BtVS with people you’d never actually meet…..until much later. The message boards were open until midnight (things weren’t always incessant) they also had moderators. People who would step in if things got a tad testy….which they did on occasions. They were lovely people. People who lost their jobs due to BBC cuts. I hope they are all happy.  
My screen name was “Vampire 666”  because you know, evil and all.  I made the mistake of straying from the safety of the Buffy boards once and found myself on the “Religion   boards” Frosty receptions with icicles on don’t come more frosty than that one. I used the Film boards on occasions too. Someone called “Fripono” was a draw rather than the subject matter. I hope he’s well too. 

This was the final night of the BBC Cult boards. Although I do recall being able to post on there for a few days after it closed, but that didn’t last long. Sadly all my screenshots etc are on my iMac. My dead iMac that lives in the cupboard under the stairs. 

http://bbc.adactio.com/cult/news/cult/2005/03/01/17228.shtml 

I had to stop talking it was dinner time. Watched “The Replacement” episode 3 S5. Great episode. So many wonderful lines. So much character growth.  
One episode a day is my limit though. I know people who sit in front of the TV all day. Fair play to them, but it’s not for me. 
To be continued…….

What I love about BtVS is how I can relate to it. I’m far from being a teenager……so very far. I like how a female is allowed to be strong without stripping down to her underwear to gain fans. It’s one of the things that puts me off of the whole superhero world. It’s all a bit manga. 
  

Creepy stuff, Bobbleheads but sexually active bobbleheads. Young girls faces, on women’s bodies. Yeah it’s a niche, a very peculiar one. 
Buffy is a young woman she looks like a young woman. Yes she’s a superhero, but no costume change is necessary to be that. 

What BtVS allows is emotion. The superhero is always there, but even though it’s at the centre it’s not all there is.