Attack of the BtVS/AtS love!

[butterfly]

There are two people on my flist who are watching stuff for the first time (one of them has seen BtVS but not AtS and the other is watching both for the first time) and reading their posts has reminded me of how much I love these people.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer! The show that helped me realize I was attracted to girls (thank you, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Amber Benson, in particular). I think, more than any other show, these shows are what have made me define what I look for in television. I said, once, that if you added up all the shows I was currently watching, it would equal the joy of a Jossverse show. This is still mostly true. The closest that I have come to finding a show that has given me as much giddy joy has been RTD's Doctor Who.

Buffy was my first girlcrush. Xander was one of my first boycrushes. Naturally, I shipped them (I still do). While watching the show, there were characters that I took longer to love than others (*cough*Willow*cough*) and characters that I took to immediately (*cough*Tara*cough*) but I've found that the more time passes, the more I really love them all. Even Faith.

These shows have made me cry more times than probably anything else in the world and I have loved them for doing it. The first time I remember crying was "Becoming" when Buffy had to kill Angel (and I did not even like Angel at the time). It was far from the last. AtS made me cry in "Hero", of course. I fell in love with Doyle from almost his first moment of screentime and for a long time I thought I would never forgive the show for killing him off. I even quit watching! But then Wesley... oh, Wesley. He snuck into my heart so slowly and I never realized that I had fallen helplessly for him.

One of the things that I enjoyed about these shows was the dazzling amount of chemistry that the leads had with each other. I cared about the Willow/Xander/Buffy friendship (with Giles always along for the ride). I cared about Anya and Tara and Dawn and Joyce and Robin and Jenny and Connor and Gunn and Lorne and Lindsey.

I wept when Doyle died. When Joyce died. When Tara and Anya and Buffy and Cordy and Fred (oh, Fred) and Wesley (my poor sweet Wesley). I cheered every time that Buffy defied the odds to stand up one more time. When Angel did the wrong thing for the right reasons (people on AtS were forever doing the wrong thing for the right reasons).

I just... I profoundly, deeply adore these people. That's all.

Also! I'm going to go watch "Once More, With Feeling".

Comments

[trepkos.livejournal.com]

They're so lucky to be watching as virgins!

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

I know! Seeing their reactions is such a beautiful thing.

I couldn't stop with OMWF -- I had to continue on to "Tabula Rasa". I'd forgotten how well S6 managed to mix the hilarious with the heartbreaking.

[castalie.livejournal.com]

You know, it's funny because when asked about my favourite shows, I used to sorta forget Buffy all the time. And yet I watched the show religiously when it first aired in France and then never, ever missed a rerun.

Then I fell for Ats - once the party was over for everyone else, but better late than never, I say - and bought the whole show on DVD then realised I'd bought a couple of seasons of Buffy too and, well, yes, those two shows definitely are two of my favourites. I just don't know why it never really seemed to make it to my Favourite Shows list.

One of those mysteries in life, I guess.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

It kinda seeped into the background of How I View TV. It almost doesn't count as a tv show. It's a viewing experience.

[thunderemerald.livejournal.com]

Having never seen either series, two years ago I started marathoning the entire thing, BtVS and AtS at once, in the order they aired. With the possible exception of s4 of Angel (wtf Connor), it was one of the best things I've ever done. And all because a few months before that, I'd fallen head over heels in love with a little show called Firefly. :)

Oh Wesley. There are no words.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Oh, Wesley. So much love (but I differ from you in loving Connor -- in fact, Connor is the person who taught me to love Angel as a person). Firefly, too, is absolute love.

I'm so thrilled that Joss is doing another show!

[thunderemerald.livejournal.com]

Eh, I didn't mind Connor himself as a character -- I just disliked that whole plotline surrounding him. But it's all good. :)

I'm SO excited for Dollhouse! Yay Eliza Dushku!

[sol-se.livejournal.com]

My shows! Oh, my shows.
*cries*
*loves*
*cheers*

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Shows!

*hugs shows*

I'm so very looking forward to the upcoming Joss show.

[thegrungediva.livejournal.com]

ITA

I didn't start out liking Angel. I figued my least favorite characters were all leaving Buffy, so I was happy. I despised Cordy (what was Xander THINKING?) and really didn't care much for Angel, and Wesley I could take or leave. But when Buffy ended I missed Joss, so I had to watch it, and wow! Cordy had gotten, well, wow. And Doyle, yes, and Lorne, yes, and Wesley, yes, I had totally fallen for him (and what a great couple Aly and Alexis make) without realizing it, and Fred annoyed the hell out of me at first, way too skinny, but as she lost the accent and the neuroses I fell for her, too. Oh, I can't say enough.

Did I tell you I did "Under Your Spell" for my audition for PSC? Steve was not amused, but I did warn him ;-)

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

I figued my least favorite characters were all leaving Buffy, so I was happy.

Ditto! Angel and Cordy were the ones I'd least mind losing... but then there was Doyle and he absolutely captured my heart. And I was so devastated. And then the others just... slipped in, without permission, and I loved them, too.

Did I tell you I did "Under Your Spell" for my audition for PSC? Steve was not amused, but I did warn him ;-)

Hee! That's fun.

[thawrecka]

It sometimes feels silly to say that BtVS wasn't just a show, it was seven important years of my life, but it's true.

[leviathan101.livejournal.com]

Awww, I'm with you. It's fantastic so far! I'm anxious to discover the next three seasons, then the comics. I can't believe I waited this long to try BtVS! It's so full of emotion and beautiful writing. And I'm loving that some fans from years ago are enjoying reading my newbie ramblings and enjoying them. That is awesome.

ETA: Oh yeah and I'm jealous that you get to watch 'Once More, With Feeling' and I still have 2 1/2 seasons to go!!!

[ice-feather.livejournal.com]

I discovered Buffy very late; the season seven Finale episodes, to be precise. I'd ignored it until then because mass hype over something is often a way to turn me off that something, but I got curious with Buffy and watched it. I didn't know who any of the characters were and didn't really understand what was going on, but I liked what I saw enough to buy the season one boxset shortly after.

There was no going back after that.

Oddly, it took me longer to get into Firefly. It was after I saw so many people online rave about it and I wondered how I'd managed to miss it completely the first time. I remember seeing it in the TV listings at the time but never being drawn to it. But when I watched some of the episodes online, I fell in love with Firefly, too.

I shall always have a soft spot for Jossverse, and I wonder if I'm one of the only people who likes Spike and Angel and shipps Buffy/Angel and Buffy/Spike, because that seems to be rare.

[nic]

oh, Wesley. He snuck into my heart so slowly and I never realized that I had fallen helplessly for him.

I had exactly the same reaction, I never, ever suspected I could love him so much.

Reading this made me realise that d@mn, Joss killed a lot of characters. Few others would get away with that.

LATE

[a-white-rain.livejournal.com]

Um god I missed this. *has been journal hoping* STUPID LJ!

Haha I think what I loved about BOTH shows so much is that I cared so much. The characters I didn't care about on any level at all were few and far in between. And I pretty much blame Joss for my sense of humor, ship kinks, and story-telling buttons.