Are you open about your Fandom?

[JCoatsworth]

I don't really talk about the series with my friends. They don't know the series, so there's no point in talking about it, in my opinion.
My close friends do know that I like the show, though. How could they not notice the DVDs of Buffy and Angel on my shelf when they're at my place.
My brother knows, too. I sometimes show him funny scenes 😀
He also knows that I'm a member of this forum.

Anyway, it's not like I act like I'm ashamed or something. No way.
I don't talk much about it, because no one I know seems to watch it or even know it. But that's the reason why I'm here after all.

 

[Mr Giles]

My brother knows i like buffy which he judges, apart from that i dont know anyone else that likes it. I wouldnt try to hide that i like it though. I can understand people thinking its weird, we're pretty much like Trekkies in that respect.

 

[Kean]

To be honest I make a point of not telling people. Anytime I have shared that with close friends I have felt like I had to offer up some hasty justifications. There's just this look that people get, like "Oh...you're one of those people", and I honestly just couldn't be bothered dealing with that. How do you explain the fandom experience to anyone? You can't; you have to experience it for yourself to know what it is like and know the value of it.

I don't offer up any information, and if I am asked I'll downplay it as much as I can. Sad state of affairs, but I don't see much of an alternative. At least not for me.

 

[Living Dead Boy]

[MENTION=11630]Amethyst[/MENTION] haha I have the "grrgh...arrgh" sound as my text message notification. 😛

Personally, I could care less what people think about my love for Buffy. Most of my family knows (they bought me the DVD's), and my friends all know. Well...mostly every one at my old school knew, because I had Buffy pictures all over my binders and locker. 😉 IMO it's nothing to be ashamed about. People can brag and obsess about football teams all day long, what's the difference? There isn't one.

 

[EvilBuffy]

If it somehow comes up in conversation, I will mention my love of Buffy. I don't go out of my way to mention I make fanart or that I'm a member of forums, though I have told people before. But the one thing I have kept to myself is fanfiction. Reading or writing, it's my secret guilty pleasure. 😉

 

[Gum Gnome33]

I am open with my love for BTVS and Angel, but I've never gone out of my way to tell people about my involvement in fandom and I probably never will. Like others have said, the way fandoms, forums and online communities are often viewed by society makes makes me keep my involvement to myself. Plus, I like that BB is my thing, my place to escape from the outside world.

This is me, exactly. If it comes up I will proudly profess my love for Buffy and most people I meet, rather than judge, will be intrigued and consider watching it themselves. Maybe I'm good at selling it. 😉

But fandom and forums are another thing entirely. Even though I know well that they can be a wonderful thing and that the more "acceptable" modes of getting "involved in the arts" usually involve crap like checking out tabloids, I keep it to myself. I admire those who can flaunt it without concern for others' reactions.

Also for work purposes, I can't really divulge too much but that's sort of a separate issue.

 

[RogueDemonHunter]

I understand perfectly why the general public might make fun of us Buffy fans, but there's a quote that Joss Whedon made that sums up my position, that I'll paraphrase because I can't remember it word for word ''Those that can't get over the funny name, aren't invited to the party.''

As big a fan I am, I do think BtVS can be down right cringe worthy cheesy some times.

And due to the habitual cheese factor, I can see their point.

Anytime I get some flak for being a fan, I usually agree with whoever is criticising it, but add that there are some amazing cheesy-free episodes that they need to see, to understand why I'm a fan, and why it won an Emmy and Saturn award and was nominated numerous times. Although OMWF is cheesy and I wouldn't reccommend my friends watch that first.

I love Buffy for its cheesiness!


Anywya, as for my position, I don't go around defining myself by Buffy, and not many people know I'm a fan, but if it cmes up, I say it with pride and stand up for my fandom, and no one looks down on me as long as i recognize it's a bit obsessive. But I just tell them its my free time, so I'll use it as crazily as I would like. Anyway, I'm nto very open about it, but I NEVER let anything others rarely say bother me.

 

[patriot1123]

I don't wear a sandwich board to announce my passion for this show, but I don't make any secret about it either. When I'm on the treadmill and I laugh out loud and someone asks what I'm watching, I tell them how much I love it. I have Buffy cast wallpaper on both of the computers I use at work and I couldn't care less if someone sees it. I have t-shirts that I wear, and a couple dozen photographs of the cast visible in my home office. I'm too old to care about what anyone thinks. 🙂

 

[Aloverssoulz]

I'm very open about everything I like in life 😀 I do reference video games, tv shows etc. all the time that goes right over most peoples heads.

Like the other week I was watching "How I Met Your Mother" with my friend, the Mayor from season 3 was on the show and I jokingly said "I thought he blew up with the school?" It left my friend very confused 😛

I also want to get some Buffy glasses, but they don't have handles and I need them because everything I drink from a glass does be hot 🙁

Oh and a Buffy T-shirt. There's some badass ones 😀 I might not ever wear it though because it might end up ruined like my Metal Gear Solid one did >;( My fave t-shirt and it was eating by moths ;_;

 

[sisterofmercy]

My friends know I'm a massive geek anyway so I'm not too bothered about concealing my love of things like Buffy/Firefly/Star Trek, etc. Infact I've even converted a few of them to Firefly fandom and a lot of them grew up watching Buffy like I did.

I'm not really obsessive though.

 

[WileyDairyGnome]

Well, it's not a secret that I'm obsessed with the show and I love mentioning it whenever I can. 😉 But no one knows I go on BB because I feel like people would think that was really... I don't know, nerdy? Is that the word? I don't know, but they would probably think I was a freak, and I'm already seen as a weirdo enough as it is. 😛

 

[Summerlilly]

[MENTION=11396]WileyDairyGnome[/MENTION] Well, I was just thinking I know some of my friends think I'm nerdy for loving a tv show, but really I'm proud to be a little nerdy!😀😀 I think it just means that you're really into something....and people who are passionate about something are more interesting than apathetic people who don't care about anything! 😛

Honestly, I hate that judgmental smile my best friend gives me when the subject of Buffy comes up or she asks me what I've been doing and I mention BB. I'm actually suprised most people on here seem to keep their fandom on the DL for the most part, but I understand why.

I wish I had more firends who were into the Buffyverse. It's awesome though when you meet someone who is and it's like an instant connection and you totally want to be friends with them! 😀

 

[white avenger]

I'm in no way ashamed of being a Buffy fan, or in staying true to my mission to enlighten everyone about my belief that Spike and Buffy are the ideal couple in the Buffyverse. On the other hand, among the people in my age group, the subject rarely comes up. We're much more likely to be discussing our various arthritis medication or what restaurants have the best senior citizens' menu.

But if the subject ever does come up, I'm right in there with 'em.

 

[Washburne]

The subject rarely comes up but when it does I'm honest about it. My dvds and books are in plain sight and the binders with trading cards are in the bookshelf although it's not easy to see that they're Whedonbased unless you look closer.

Tell the truth though, it's not like Buffy are my favourite show or that I think it's the greatest show ever done. So if for example a discussion about tv-shows come up I mention Btvs and Ats but they're not the ones I praise the most.

Not that I think the shows are bad and I do like to discuss them. Sometimes. In real life I adapt to what people are interested in. I've "forced" one person, that wasn't interested, to watch it but that's about it. I mention my love for this site quite often though.

 

[Evil Angelus 95]

Eh, my friends know. They either don't care, or they at least like the show. Not to mention I'm totally open about it. I've even got a poster of the show up in my locker, so indeed, pretty open 😛

 

[Ianigsy]

Nowhere near as much as I used to be- if you'd seen my work desk eight years ago you would also have seen the Faith and Anya figures on it, but to be honest I think that in the last five years I can remember exactly two people alluding to the series- one was a guy who had a thing about SMG and the other was someone who didn't want to go out with somebody called Giles her sister had found for her, because she couldn't take the name seriously any more.

 

[sylvanscribe]

I tend to keep it to myself, I am socially marginalized enough as it is (I am male and have no interest in sports, so I am automatically treated with suspicion).

I will say compared to some people I might be more of a casual fan than a diehard Fan (with an intentional capital F). If I see people getting too emotionally vested into something I tend to walk away (just as I walk away from people who get too riled up about their sports team).

 

[Johnatron]

Yeah, I currently have a Buffy banner as my Facebook cover photo. Also one of my best friends is a huge fan of the show amongst other supernatural series like Charmed, Supernatural etc. so we frequently geek out together.

 

[EvilWillow]

My husband, my sister and brother, and my best friend are really the only ones that know just HOW deep the obsession goes lol.

I just finished my 4th or 5th Buffy re-watch this evening. 😛

 

[Johnatron]

My husband, my sister and brother, and my best friend are really the only ones that know just HOW deep the obsession goes lol.

I just finished my 4th or 5th Buffy re-watch this evening. 😛

I too have a major obsession. As soon as I finish watching Chosen I grab my Season 1 DVD and put on Welcome To The Hellmouth again. 😛