Happy Buffy Anniversary!

[avrelia]

It is a joy to read my friends' list today: so many good memories, so many lovely posts!

Ten years ago I had a very different life, with no Buffy in it. Five years ago I started watching BtVS. What did it give me:
a) lots and lots of wasted time.
b) a huge jump in my English skills - BtVS was one thing that moved me to express my thoughts in English in writing and try be understood. ;)
c) It's much more difficult for me to read badly written books or watch bad tv shows. I've honed my critical skills, and now I just have to go for good stuff.
d)Lots of friends, without whom I don't want to imagine my life now. ::loves you::

I posted a review on a book I've just finished: Not about Buffy, but with a definite connection to it

Comments

[molly_may]

It's much more difficult for me to read badly written books or watch bad tv shows. I've honed my critical skills, and now I just have to go for good stuff

Oh, me too! I'm much more critical of things than I used to be, and I blame a lot of that on Joss getting me addicted to good writing.

I have The Rest Falls Away, but I haven't read it yet. I'll have to pick it up soon.

[avrelia.livejournal.com]

I remember it was one of the things we talked about at Writercon in the first evening, and everyone agreed that Buffy had a detrimental effect on our ability to read badly written stuff. ;)

and, of course, Writercon is another example of what Buffy did to us.

[gobi-rex.livejournal.com]

Yes, yes, yes and yes.

Buffy fandom not only helped me hone my critical skills, it also nudged me to learn about things I may not have explored on my own.

There are times I wish I had found BtVS much much earlier, but at the same time I'm glad I didn't. It would have had a detrimental effect on my grades ;-). (I discovered BtVS just as I finishing grad.school)

It also reminded me that it's ok to get obsessive about fictional characters and that there's an online community for every fandom/pairing.

Last but not least, I met lots of amazing people (and YOU).

[avrelia.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't think I would click with BtVS if I started from the very beginning - I was not much into either high school or vampires. :) Besides, 10 years ago I would have been dependent on the translation, which means I would miss a lot. But who knows, really?

I was occasionally obsessive before - I watched the Sharpe movies (and it was impossible to get obsess a little given that Sean Bean was all pretty and manly and intense), and Due South, and more... But BtVS brought it all on a totally different level I did not know was possible.