Despite me being a fan of the television series since it was originally airing on BBC2 at 18:45 (typically on a Thursday every week) in the UK, I didn't really get involved in the community until early 2014. A large part of this was due to the fact that though I watched most of "Buffy" and bits of "Angel" on their original broadcasts, I was very young. Even in the early 2000s, the internet still wasn't a major thing, so even if I was old enough to engage in real discussions about it, I most likely wouldn't have been able to online.
Regardless of that, though, I adored "Buffy" as a child. I thought that the action was the coolest thing since Avril Lavigne and I felt somewhat badass for watching it with my parents. Other girls at school were into "My Little Pony", not me, "Buffy" all the way, baby. I collected "Bratz" dolls and I would make them battle, pretending that they were Slayers. My favourite character was Faith, even as a prepubescent brat, I thought that Eliza Dushku was off the charts in terms of hotness. Her and Sarah Michelle Gellar were certainly two of my very first crushes. I remember specifically seeing promotional photos of Buffy from season four on our calendar and admiring her beauty.
A very fond memory of mine is playing a game I invented in the playground that I titled "Slayers". I requested for my friend to portray Buffy (she didn't even know what "Buffy" was, bless her, but she went along with it!), and I, of course, would be Faith. The game basically entailed me pretending to put on lipstick and throwing fake punches at my friend. Good times.
As I became older, though I still very much cherished "Buffy", other things took precedence. I was very focused on school and I had developed other interests. During my whole time in high school, I barely watched television at all. I was extremely focused on getting my qualifications and I battled crippling anxiety. But still, I would think of "Buffy" from time to time, occasionally I would remember certain elements and smile.
It wasn't until I left school in the spring of 2013 that I decided to revist "Buffy". My dad had recently given me his old PS1 and PS2, so I decided to get some games for both consoles. I remembered one game in particular from my childhood that I had always loved playing, that game was: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds". When it arrived in the post for me and I tore open the padded envelope it was delivered in, I was instantly hit with nostalgia when I saw the case, in all of its early 2000s glory. As I gazed at it, fuzzy memories of episodes and desperately trying to beat the game as a child came flooding back to me. I also happened to notice how beautiful Willow in particular looked. I found myself thinking, "Since when did Willow get so hot? I don't remember her being that gorgeous. Yikes!". I booted the game up and it was like being hit with a bomb of nostalgia. The opening level in the Magic Box, the terrible voice dub for Willow, the incredibly vague objectives... yes, this was what I had been craving for years.
Not long after I was reunited with my beloved "Buffy" game, I had entered a new relationship and I was preparing to move house, to a whole new area. So I had forgotten about it for a little while, but it wouldn't be long before "Buffy" came back into my life again...
Around January 27th 2014 (I remember the date because it was a few days before my birthday), I found myself bored and looking for writing inspiration for my roleplays. I was in need of a new character, somebody interesting, somebody with a fascinating history... one thought suddenly popped into my head, "Hey, what about Willow from 'Buffy'?" so I Googled her name (unfortunately misspelling her surname as Rosenburg, shame on me) and I checked out the page about her character on the "Buffy and Angel wiki". "Damn!" I thought, as I skimmed through her biography and information, she was exactly the kind of character I was looking to write as. So I promised myself that as a birthday treat, after February 2nd, I would buy myself the complete series. I did. I ordered it on February 3rd and I was so desperate for it that I ordered it for next day delivery, significantly bumping up the price of my gift to myself. I'm not sure what exactly it was, but something had told me that I really should watch "Buffy" properly. I was eager to watch now as an adult who had survived high school and had dealt with many themes that took place in the series.
February 4th couldn't come quick enough. When my complete series arrived early on in the morning, I destroyed the box carrying it and I held my brand spankin' new boxset up as if I had unearthed a rare, valuable artifact. Without further hesitation, I brewed myself a mug of Earl Grey tea, I plonked my bottom on my bed and I started watching from the very beginning. It felt familiar and like a warm, favourite blanket. And so began my journey into rediscovering and rewatching a series that would later grant me some of the best people I have met in my life, which brings me onto my points I would like to make about the community...
The community that surrounds the magnificent series features some of the most delightful and brilliant people I have had the pleasure of communicating with. Some will be reading this and smiling, because they know exactly who they are. One of the friends I first spoke with over a year ago now, I had the pleasure of meeting back at the end of March this year. We hung out and went to see Charli XCX in concert (awesome gig, by the way), it was like a dream come true. Him and I are incredibly close, and I am forever thankful that I was blessed enough to meet him in person.
Another friend of mine is superb, we haven't met yet as he lives in the USA and I live in the UK, but I cherish his friendship just as much. For my birthday, he was even sweet enough to send me a Willow Funko POP! figure and an adorably heartfelt birthday card which I still often look at and smile over.
My friendships from the community don't end there, though, nope! Two lovely ladies have helped me immensely with my collection by sending me complete sets of trading cards, photo cards and even a lovely season seven display box. It was incredibly altruistic of them and I always look at my cards and think of how lucky I am.
There is another friend, too. He almost rivals me with my love of Willow... almost. ;) He's an epic writer and he is partners in crime with yet another friend I recently made who is always so incredibly generous with his praise about my writing.
I would never stop writing this post if I included all of the brilliant people I have met in the community. However, I am grateful for every single one of them. It's wonderful how we have connected just by being in the same group for a television series that ended almost twelve years ago (time flies!).
Of course like with anything, there are a few rotten apples, but the good apples seriously outweigh the rare, bad few. I am an admin on many groups and pages and for the most part, things run very smoothly. The "Buffy" community as a whole are mature, thoughtful and delightful people who I am thrilled to spend time with most days.
Regardless of that, though, I adored "Buffy" as a child. I thought that the action was the coolest thing since Avril Lavigne and I felt somewhat badass for watching it with my parents. Other girls at school were into "My Little Pony", not me, "Buffy" all the way, baby. I collected "Bratz" dolls and I would make them battle, pretending that they were Slayers. My favourite character was Faith, even as a prepubescent brat, I thought that Eliza Dushku was off the charts in terms of hotness. Her and Sarah Michelle Gellar were certainly two of my very first crushes. I remember specifically seeing promotional photos of Buffy from season four on our calendar and admiring her beauty.
A very fond memory of mine is playing a game I invented in the playground that I titled "Slayers". I requested for my friend to portray Buffy (she didn't even know what "Buffy" was, bless her, but she went along with it!), and I, of course, would be Faith. The game basically entailed me pretending to put on lipstick and throwing fake punches at my friend. Good times.
As I became older, though I still very much cherished "Buffy", other things took precedence. I was very focused on school and I had developed other interests. During my whole time in high school, I barely watched television at all. I was extremely focused on getting my qualifications and I battled crippling anxiety. But still, I would think of "Buffy" from time to time, occasionally I would remember certain elements and smile.
It wasn't until I left school in the spring of 2013 that I decided to revist "Buffy". My dad had recently given me his old PS1 and PS2, so I decided to get some games for both consoles. I remembered one game in particular from my childhood that I had always loved playing, that game was: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds". When it arrived in the post for me and I tore open the padded envelope it was delivered in, I was instantly hit with nostalgia when I saw the case, in all of its early 2000s glory. As I gazed at it, fuzzy memories of episodes and desperately trying to beat the game as a child came flooding back to me. I also happened to notice how beautiful Willow in particular looked. I found myself thinking, "Since when did Willow get so hot? I don't remember her being that gorgeous. Yikes!". I booted the game up and it was like being hit with a bomb of nostalgia. The opening level in the Magic Box, the terrible voice dub for Willow, the incredibly vague objectives... yes, this was what I had been craving for years.
Not long after I was reunited with my beloved "Buffy" game, I had entered a new relationship and I was preparing to move house, to a whole new area. So I had forgotten about it for a little while, but it wouldn't be long before "Buffy" came back into my life again...
Around January 27th 2014 (I remember the date because it was a few days before my birthday), I found myself bored and looking for writing inspiration for my roleplays. I was in need of a new character, somebody interesting, somebody with a fascinating history... one thought suddenly popped into my head, "Hey, what about Willow from 'Buffy'?" so I Googled her name (unfortunately misspelling her surname as Rosenburg, shame on me) and I checked out the page about her character on the "Buffy and Angel wiki". "Damn!" I thought, as I skimmed through her biography and information, she was exactly the kind of character I was looking to write as. So I promised myself that as a birthday treat, after February 2nd, I would buy myself the complete series. I did. I ordered it on February 3rd and I was so desperate for it that I ordered it for next day delivery, significantly bumping up the price of my gift to myself. I'm not sure what exactly it was, but something had told me that I really should watch "Buffy" properly. I was eager to watch now as an adult who had survived high school and had dealt with many themes that took place in the series.
February 4th couldn't come quick enough. When my complete series arrived early on in the morning, I destroyed the box carrying it and I held my brand spankin' new boxset up as if I had unearthed a rare, valuable artifact. Without further hesitation, I brewed myself a mug of Earl Grey tea, I plonked my bottom on my bed and I started watching from the very beginning. It felt familiar and like a warm, favourite blanket. And so began my journey into rediscovering and rewatching a series that would later grant me some of the best people I have met in my life, which brings me onto my points I would like to make about the community...
The community that surrounds the magnificent series features some of the most delightful and brilliant people I have had the pleasure of communicating with. Some will be reading this and smiling, because they know exactly who they are. One of the friends I first spoke with over a year ago now, I had the pleasure of meeting back at the end of March this year. We hung out and went to see Charli XCX in concert (awesome gig, by the way), it was like a dream come true. Him and I are incredibly close, and I am forever thankful that I was blessed enough to meet him in person.
Another friend of mine is superb, we haven't met yet as he lives in the USA and I live in the UK, but I cherish his friendship just as much. For my birthday, he was even sweet enough to send me a Willow Funko POP! figure and an adorably heartfelt birthday card which I still often look at and smile over.
My friendships from the community don't end there, though, nope! Two lovely ladies have helped me immensely with my collection by sending me complete sets of trading cards, photo cards and even a lovely season seven display box. It was incredibly altruistic of them and I always look at my cards and think of how lucky I am.
There is another friend, too. He almost rivals me with my love of Willow... almost. ;) He's an epic writer and he is partners in crime with yet another friend I recently made who is always so incredibly generous with his praise about my writing.
I would never stop writing this post if I included all of the brilliant people I have met in the community. However, I am grateful for every single one of them. It's wonderful how we have connected just by being in the same group for a television series that ended almost twelve years ago (time flies!).
Of course like with anything, there are a few rotten apples, but the good apples seriously outweigh the rare, bad few. I am an admin on many groups and pages and for the most part, things run very smoothly. The "Buffy" community as a whole are mature, thoughtful and delightful people who I am thrilled to spend time with most days.