Why the Buffyverse?

[lostboy_lj]

I was reading a fanfic musing over at shapinglight's journal.  I started to respond, but it was getting a little long-ish, so I decided to do a post instead.  It's an interesting read in general, but this question in particular stood out to me:

Which leads me to wondering why it is that the Buffyverse is still the only fictional world invented by other people

Comments

[bone_dry1013]

My track record for ficcing in the past several years has been abysmal, but I thought I'd give my (disjointed and unpoetic and rambly) opinion.
I got into fandom when I was way young, so young I was too innocent to know what "shipping" meant until someone explained it to me. And it was for a show I gradually came to realize was absolutely terrible and easily one of the worst ever produced for primetime. After this revelation, I watched a lot of other series, and one of them was Buffy, though I started after it ended. I think by s3 it was my favorite show ever, and I still think that.
Buffy's not the be all end all of shows to me, but as Max said, it's the ideal to me. I feel like there hasn't been a show that did so many things as well, with characters that good and complex and identifiable as BtVS. I'll watch other shows, even shows I like enough to consider ficcing for, and part of me will still be going "Yeah, I love this, but Buffy did something similar better." To me, the verse didn't leave any cracks I feel like I had to fill

[lostboy_lj]

And it was for a show I gradually came to realize was absolutely terrible and easily one of the worst ever produced for primetime.

I WANT TO KNOW IT (pm me if necessary).

To me, the verse didn't leave any cracks I feel like I had to fill or justify with fic. There aren't really gaping plot holes or backstory incongruences or episodes that make me feel like I'm being subjected to a gimmick or something written by a writer who doesn't understand the characters (which I realize is a matter of opinion/interpretation, but that's what I think)

And this is what conbfounds me: why do we feel the need to extend a near-perfect narrative? Why jam a new piece into a completed puzzle? It would be madness in any other pursuit, but in Art in somehow works out. :S

[bone_dry1013]

I think it's because (at least for me) I love these characters, and I want to see them do more. I want to spend more time with them, learn something else new about them, enjoy the ride with them on another story. Reruns are all fine and dandy (and I consume them like nobody's business) but when you can find a fic that feels like their voices again, it's almost like you get to have a new episode, only longer and with their actual thoughts, not just your guess about their thoughts.
At least, that's why I read fic, and why I'm so extremely picky, and why I pretty much have never read AU or alternate path or slash, because when you start crossing into the realm of OOC, then (for me) you're no longer concerned with extending their story, you're just playing dollhouse with the verse, and when you do that you could pretty much change the names around and do it with any verse. That's one of the reasons why I suck at finishing my own projects, because I become paralyzed at the thought that I'm not doing the verse justice, or flat doing it

[lostboy_lj]

To answer your question, the show was...(embarrassed even to admit it) Bones.

Oh OK, but I think I could have guessed that from your journal. Also, "Bones" is a staple in my household, because Lostgirl loves it dearly (as in a "I must watch this episode six times in a row" kind od love). As for me, I think Bones is mostly a good show -- probably because I'm such a Sherlock Holmes fan and so I have an affinity for all it's modern derivatives. I also have a theory about why Holmes in particular is so popular right now, including shows like "Bones", "House", the BBC series and the new Lucy Lu thing... but that's probably a topic for a different day. :)

[rebcake]

Even so, I think maybe the more pertinent question is, why is anyone still writing Buffy fanfic at all?

aadler's point is excellent. The 'verse is so incredibly flexible, that the question could be answered differently by every writer. Pondering this, I'm staring to think that for many people the answer is "mythos". I suppose lots of fandoms would say that theirs has the most compelling mythos - but for lots of us BtVS is it. Buffy has all the elements of Greek mythology, and people are still fooling around with those stories, amirite? Gods, monsters, puny humans doing what they can to survive, prosper and/or find happiness. It's a rare fictional world that is so deep and broad, with comedy and tragedy aplenty.

I can see why BtVS fans migrate to Supernatural - it's got all that too. But it doesn't marry them as well, and it doesn't have the underlying glimmer of hope that BtVS had, even when it was at its darkest. (The boys are prettier, though.) Stargate has a huge amount of fanfic on AO3, so I'm thinking it's pretty flexible, too,

[lostboy_lj]

Buffy has all the elements of Greek mythology, and people are still fooling around with those stories, amirite? Gods, monsters, puny humans doing what they can to survive, prosper and/or find happiness. It's a rare fictional world that is so deep and broad, with comedy and tragedy aplenty.

Wait... shit... are you me? Or, at the very least, do you have some Batman sci-fi, screwjob, cell-phony secret view into my immediate doings? Did you KNOW what I was going to post next? Also, how? Also, AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

[rebcake]

Mwahahaha! You'll never glean the secret of my Dick Tracy iPod watch with x-ray vision app! Oh shit! I was just kidding. (It plays the theme from The Addams Family).

[shapinglight]

(The boys are prettier, though.)

Are they?

I'm always completely bewildered when people say this.

[gillo]

Hi - I'm here via a link, and I've had teh temerity to add you to my flist, because I'm collecting as many die-hard Buffy fans as I can.

I agree with a lot of the above, except that I still write more fanfiction than meta, even though I've returned to uni to do an MA in literature, so you'd think that came more easily.

I love the characters, and I love the opportunities they offer, both filling in the gaps and going off-piste. I love the layering and complexity. I love so many of my fellow-fans. And, as someone says upthread, it's home.

[lostboy_lj]

I'm friend-ing you back, but it has nothing to do with Buffy. It's ONLY because you're a Black Books fan. :)

[gillo]

What semi-sane person could not like Black Books?

Tell me you love Green Wing too? Tamsin Greig is made of awesome, after all.

[lostboy_lj]

I wish I could, but I have absolutely no idea what that is. Barring Netflix and BBC America, we Yanks usually have to wait around until someone steals your best shows and recasts them with Rebel American Scum. I'm still expecting a Fawlty Towers remake starring Ashton Kutcher any day now.

[shapinglight]

This was a terrific post (much more interesting than mine). I think I'm with rebcake that BtVS has similar qualities to Greek myth, in that something about it resonates more deeply (for me) than any other show I've watched.

Not that fond of the rest of Joss's oeuvre (in particular, I don't like Firefly), though I accept that it may just be my dislike that makes me feel none of them have the depth of BtVS, and never would have no matter how many seasons they'd run.

BtVS was lightning in a bottle- the confluence of Joss, the writers, the actors - made it unique.

[lostboy_lj]

This was a terrific post (much more interesting than mine). I think I'm with rebcake that BtVS has similar qualities to Greek myth, in that something about it resonates more deeply (for me) than any other show I've watched.

Me too. And not just Greek myth, but monomyth, in the primordial, Campbellian, Hero-With-A-Thousand-Faces sort of way. I've been actually working on a post about this all week, which I guess rebcake saw with her army of super stealth C.I.A Batman sci-fi spy drones she has parked outside my window.

[shapinglight]

Yeah, she's tricky that way.

Looking forward to reading it (though I can't promise to leave you any intelligent comments).

[rebcake]

Yes! Monomyth! It's a bit like, well, Star Wars in the way it is a world that resonates on such a fundamental level. It's also more intimate than SW - largely because of the medium, its pacing, and its longer length, but also because I think the writers were just as fascinated in exploring human realities as Big Heroic Themes. There is some of that in SW, of course, but in BtVS the heroes get equal time for their mundane lives. There is no dishwashing (@#%$) in Star Wars.

[red_satin_doll]

So, I guess the shorter version of my answer is: monogamy.I can name that tune in four notes: l o v e