If it wasn't for Buffy Season 8, the online fandom would be comatose.

[sombrefan]

Discuss.

Comments

[moscow-watcher.livejournal.com]

Define "fandom". Is fanfiction part of a fandom?
There are several pretty active BtVS fic archives and the majority of the writers there don't read comics.

[simonf.livejournal.com]

Well I think it would be churlish to exclude fanfiction as I've always regarded fanfic writers as the core of any fandom. However if the comics hadn't happened, would we just be left with the fanfic writers? It certainly felt like it was going that way betweeen 2003 and 2007.

[moscow-watcher.livejournal.com]

I think there would have been conventions, regardless of comics. There would have been fan boards. There would have been personal interaction between fans and/or former fans. Me and my fandom friends still meet regularly. We hardly talk about the shows - everything is already said, I think. I'm the only person in the company who reads the comics. When we meet we talk about life. But we rewatch a couple of random episodes every time we meet at somebody's place. We can't let it go.

As to the English-language fandom, there definitely are new people on LJ and on fanforums. People discover Jossverse and want to talk about it. There are new ficwriters and some of them are very good.

I wonder what happens to other fandoms during long draughts?

[angearia.livejournal.com]

Season 8 is the hotbed of fandom. Season 8 is why I'm in fandom, why SlayAlive exists, why Buffyfestblog got going.

Online fandom wouldn't be comatose, but it wouldn't be as active on forums. I also think discussion would've been more limited (there'd be people like gabrielleabelle who keep it alive on a regular basis, but otherwise it's pretty quiet).

I don't think it would've been comatose, but it certainly would've been more quiet and peaceful discussion as the distance grew from when canon closed.

[simonf.livejournal.com]

My favourite fan board the Buffy Cross & Stake Spoiler Board died in terms of new post within two years of the show ending. There was a migration to LJ but even so, one of the most popular places to chat about Buffy online was turned into a ghost town.

"I wonder what happens to other fandoms during long draughts?"

Doctor Who would be a prime example but then I suppose they did have the books and radio dramas to keep them going. Plus it had been around for a lot longer that the Buffy fandom.

"We hardly talk about the shows - everything is already said, I think."

I would agree with that. The only new things that can be said about Buffy is how it compares to shows that are currently on the air.

[moscow-watcher.livejournal.com]

I remember Buffy Cross and Stake Spoiler Board very well. I was a lurker there in 2002-2004.

I don't think BC&S died because the fandom went comatose. It died because it was a (mostly) *spoiler* board. So, as soon as spoilers ended, people moved on. Either to fanfiction or to other shows. Some of them post on LJ.

LJ and forums allow to make your online presence more personalized. I think people migrated there because there are more ways of self-expression on forums and LJ.

But comics have definitely brought back the intensity of BtVS experience - mostly because we don't know what happens next.
It feels like 2003 again. For a long time we felt safe; we thought that the characetrs belong to us. But Joss took away the toys and plays with them again. :)

[rleyser.livejournal.com]

Well, you filled the gap by getting married and having a baby. I'm sure others did similar things.

Actually, in all seriousness, I think Whedonesque is a huge reason that the fandom is still going strong 7 years after the end of the show. I don't know its stats in terms of posts between Buffy/Angel/Firefly ending and Dollhouse starting (although I am sure you do :O)) but it certainly seemed to me that you were just as busy doing your job over there even when Joss didn't have an active show on the air.

[gillo]

Hmm. I really only got into online fandom around the time of

Chosen

, so for me it's mostly been a post-series thing. Fanfic writing is still going strong - especially in the Spike-related corners - and there's still meta around, as well as newcomers to the fandom - you only have to look at the number of commenters who have piled into the

Cultural Learnings

reviews to see there are still plenty of folks who want to talk about the actual shows still.

It wouldn't be comatose, but the comics did provide a shot of adrenaline, even if half the time it's fuelled by fury rather than excitement. And shipping wars, it seems, never die away, merely lose their bearings.

[2maggie2.livejournal.com]

I came in a few years after the show ended, and there was enough going on for it to seem like the fandom was alive. But people were talking about the dwindling numbers. And I know that I wouldn't still be here were it not for the comics. It's the new material that's so interesting, and even for those who hate it, it's the new material that gets energy from folks.

[buffyfestblog.livejournal.com]

Actually, we started Buffyfest before season 8 started, so I think it might have still been the same from our personal perspective. We'd still have our parties, still visit Whedonesque and still blog. Might not be as much action on it though, besides the Dollhouse era.

[treadingthedark.livejournal.com]

My fandom experience got more and more busy over the years. Fan fiction and art is the main focus of my travels within fandom. In addition, continued discussion about Buffy the show and peripherally the subsequent careers of creators and actors.

Since I mainly travel the Spuffy centric fandom, there was an intense burst of angry activity during 34 of the comic, coupled with a lot of humorous snark and mocking. But lately it seems there has been an overall decline in activity which might perhaps be caused by a mass depression.

In some Spuffy corners, season 8 has caused a re-thinking of the whole series, and some are leaving fandom quite disillusioned.

Which as an avid consumer of fan-fiction but not a creator, is a real downer for me!