Why "Buffy The vampire slayer" is and always will be the best show on Earth.

(And How a Dream Gave Me a Piece of My Heart Back)

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There are certain shows that don’t just entertain you ...they shape you.

They grow up with you.

They become part of you.

For me, that show has always been Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

I started watching Buffy when I was 10 years old.

And nearly two decades later, I’m still in awe of the way it told the truth about life ...through monsters, heartbreak, friendship, betrayal, love, loss, and survival.

It didn’t just tell stories about vampires and demons. It told our stories... in a way no show ever had before, and honestly, no show has since.

Recently, I had a dream that felt like a gift.

A dream so vivid, it stitched together two of the some of important pieces of my life for me...Buffy and Linkin Park.... and gave me something I didn’t even realize I still needed.

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It started with me going to a panel, where I met Sarah Michelle Gellar ...the woman who is Buffy.... and Marti Noxon, one of the key writers and producers behind the magic of the show.

(And if you know anything about Joss Whedon being canceled, it made sense to me that it was Sarah and Marti together ....no Joss in sight.)

I remember getting so emotional when I met them that I started crying.

I needed a minute.

And Sarah Michelle Gellar, with all the grace and warmth you hope your heroes would have, hugged me.

I asked if we could take a selfie together, and we decided to step outside.

Outside, the dream somehow folded into something even more surreal ...we ran into Chester Bennington, the late, incredible lead singer of Linkin Park.

Sarah casually said hi to him, then turned to me and asked,

"Do you like Linkin Park?"

I couldn’t help but laugh because ... Buffy and Linkin Park are literally two of my biggest obsessions.

Then Chester asked me what my favorite Linkin Park song was.

Without hesitation, I said,

"Crawling."

Because there’s just something about that song ....

the second it starts, you feel it in your bones.

It’s haunting. It’s powerful. It’s pain and survival wrapped up in music.

My dad introduced me to Linkin Park when I was young, just like he introduced me to Buffy.

I’ve spent 19 years loving that band...and loving this show.

In the dream, Chester sang Crawling right there outside with us.

I recorded it on Snapchat ... with Sarah Michelle Gellar in the background, both of us singing along with him, feeling every word.

It was magic.

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Later, we went back inside, and Sarah stepped away to take a break.

One of the producers on the panel asked me why I loved Buffy so much.

And I didn’t even have to think about it.

I said:

"Are you kidding? I love everything about it. The way the characters are written, how you can relate to them at different stages of your life. The soundtrack. The way the writing makes you laugh one moment, cry the next, and feel seen in ways you didn’t even realize you needed. It’s real. It’s raw. It’s layered.

I love the metaphors ...like how the "Big bads" are metaphors...like the Beast in the episode "Beauty and the beast" Season 3, who becomes abusive when he drinks the green elixir, showing how addiction can change someone you love.

And the soundtrack? Legendary. One of my favorite songs is from 'Once More, With Feeling' - the haunting line, 'We understand, hand-in-hand...but we walk alone in fear. 🎵🎶

.... It’s so true....

No matter how much love and support we have, each of us walks through life alone with our fears and battles. No one else can carry it for us. And that’s what makes it beautiful."

That line from Buffy means so much to me that it’s actually the first quote I want to get tattooed:

"We understand with a hand-in-hand...but we walk alone in fear."

-Buffy cast 'Where do we go from here'

I want it written in delicate script along the inside of my left arm ... between my armpit and elbow ... with two simple hands reaching toward each other.

A reminder that we are connected, but still carry our own journeys.

Another tattoo I plan to get is the second quote that changed me:

"Be brave. Live."

It’s from one of the most powerful moments between Buffy and her sister Dawn.

I want it placed inside my elbow, with a semicolon between the two sentences ... a symbol of survival, resilience, and choosing life ...even when it hurts...even when it feels impossible.

Because that’s what Buffy taught me, again and again:

Be brave.

Live.

Even when it’s hard.

Especially when it’s hard.

Which brings me to the third quote that really stood out to me and buffy that I quote all the time... it's just a little too lengthy for a tattoo...

" Strong is fighting. It's hard, and it's painful, and it's everyday...but it's what we have to do...."

-Buffy

Those words have gotten me through some of the darkest and loneliest moments of my life.

I live by them. I speak on them all the time.

Because the truth is, living on this earth...is hard sometimes.

We live in a fallen, broken world. This is not the way God intended.

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And then ... Sarah Michelle Gellar came back.

She smiled at me and said,

"I hear you’re a big fan. Number one, huh?"

And I laughed and said, "Yeah."

She grinned and said, "Let’s quiz that."

She asked:

"What episode has a pipe burst when...?"

"Life Serial," I answered before she could even finish her sentence.

She asked:

"What episode traps them inside the house because....?"

"Older and Far Away," I said immediately again, before she could even get the words all the way out.

And the look on her face?

It was like that white guy blinking GIF....eyebrows raised, head jerking back slightly in shock.

She was so impressed, and honestly, it made my entire heart explode.

Because that's how well I know this show.

Because it's a part of me.

I got both answers right.

And in that moment, I felt so proud, so seen, so validated in the deep love I’ve carried for this story my entire life.

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That dream ... it wasn’t just a dream.

It gave me something I thought I had lost:

the magic of believing that even when you don't get everything you dream about in real life...

sometimes, God lets you feel it anyway.

I never got to see Linkin Park live.

I had concert tickets once... a gift from my parents ... but Chester passed away just before the show.

The tour was canceled.

And a piece of my heart broke with it.

I ended up putting on my own my car concert parked outside of wawa, singing along to his final "One more light" tour I pulled up on 'YouTube'.

Meeting Sarah Michelle Gellar has always been one of my biggest dreams too.

And even if it never happens in this life, that dream gave me a moment with her - a moment I’ll carry forever.

Buffy and me?

We’re not that different.

She fought monsters on screen.

I’ve fought monsters in others and inside of me -in my mind and my body.

She got knocked down.

Had her heart broken..but she ALWAYS...stood back up.

Even when it hurt...

Even when no one understood....

Even when she had to carry it alone....

And so have I...

Here’s every way I see Buffy and me living parallel lives:

We were both forced to grow up too fast.

We both Fell in love with an "Angel " And a "Riley " and a "Spike" I've had all 3 of her loves with my husband being Spike ♡

We became protectors even at times no one protected us.

We carry deep loneliness, even when surrounded by love.

We fight invisible battles no one else can see.

We choose love again, and again even after being betrayed and broken.

We survive, and at the same time, we carry others through survival.

We live torn between being strong and being soft.

We mourn the innocent versions of ourselves we lost along the way.

We help others while still bleeding ourselves.

We wear invisible scars that shaped us.

We move through life with powerful intuition.

We embody the “chosen” but weary spirit ...called to hard paths, called to rise above...all while being exhausted both physically and emotionally.

We see beauty inside the brokenness in ourselves and in others we've loved. Always finding the silver lining.

We laugh and love like we've never been hurt before.

We fight battles daily that few would even understand.

We carry both hope and heaviness at the same time.

We prove that true strength isn’t about never breaking ... it’s about breaking and still standing back up.

Even the monsters and "Big Bads" in the show were never just monsters- they were metaphors for real-life human struggles.

The supernatural was always an analogy for something very real, painful, and relatable.

Here’s a full list of major Buffy monsters/episodes and their real-life analogies:

1. The Pack (Season 1, Episode 6)

Monster: Possessed by hyenas, the kids become cruel and predatory.

Real-life application: Peer pressure, mob mentality, and bullying- how people behave worse in groups when morality is stripped away.

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2. Nightmares (Season 1, Episode 10)

Monster: Everyone’s nightmares come to life.

Real-life application: Anxiety, trauma, and how unresolved fears can control our lives when we don’t face them.

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3. Ted (Season 2, Episode 11)

Monster: Buffy's mom dates Ted, who turns out to be a controlling, abusive robot.

Real-life application: Domestic abuse hidden behind a "perfect" facade...manipulation, emotional control, physical abuse and the fear of not being believed when you know something is wrong.

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4. Beauty and the Beasts (Season 3, Episode 4)

Monster: Pete, a human...transforms into a literal monster ( Beast with enlarged veins) after drinking his green elixir that "Helps him"

Real-life application: Domestic violence and substance abuse ...showing how addiction and rage can create a "different person" in someone you love.

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5. Helpless (Season 3, Episode 12)

Monster: Buffy is secretly stripped of her powers by the Watchers Council for a cruel coming-of-age test.

Real-life application: Betrayal by authority figures; losing trust in the people who were supposed to protect you. Growing up and realizing adults aren't always safe.

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6. Earshot (Season 3, Episode 18)

Monster: Buffy gains the temporary power to hear thoughts ... and it almost drives her insane.

Real-life application: Mental health struggles (anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts) ...and the overwhelming pain of hearing people's hidden suffering.

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7. Hush (Season 4, Episode 10)

Monster: The Gentlemen steal everyone's voices so they can't scream when attacked.

Real-life application: Communication breakdown- fear of not being heard, not being able to express yourself, emotional paralysis.

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8. The Initiative/Adam (Season 4 Big Bad)

Monster: Adam is a creature made from parts of different demons and humans.

Real-life application: Fear of technology, military experiments, and humanity's tendency to destroy itself by trying to control nature.

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9. Restless (Season 4, Finale)

Monster: The First Slayer attacks the Scooby Gang in their dreams.

Real-life application: Suppressed identity, ancestral trauma, personal fears- it’s about the inner battles we face when we’re alone with ourselves and that even take over our mind and haunt our dreams

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10. Dracula (Season 5, Episode 1)

Monster: Dracula tries to seduce Buffy into darkness.

Real-life application: Temptation, sin, seduction, losing yourself to darker instincts- and questioning your own identity.

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11. The Body (Season 5, Episode 16)

Monster: There’s no monster - just the death of Buffy’s mother.

Real-life application: The pure, raw horror of real-life death and grief- sometimes there’s no villain, no reason. Just loss.

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12. Glory (Season 5 Big Bad)

Monster: A hell-god trapped in human form, slowly going insane.

Real-life application: Mental illness- the pain of being human, the loss of self, dissociation, the crumbling of one’s mind under unbearable pressure.

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13. Once More, With Feeling (Season 6, Episode 7)

Monster: A demon forces everyone in the town to sing their deepest truths.

Real-life application: How hard it is to be honest- the fear and pain of having your real emotions exposed when you’ve buried them.

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14. Dark Willow (Season 6, Final episode)

Monster: Willow becomes addicted to magic, leading to her violent dark transformation.

Real-life application: Addiction, grief, rage, and how even the kindest people can be consumed by their pain.

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15. The Trio (Warren, Jonathan, Andrew) (Season 6 Minor Villains)

Monster: Three nerdy guys become villains.

Real-life application: Toxic masculinity, entitlement, abuse of power-the danger of minimizing "harmless" bad behavior before it becomes evil.

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16. The First Evil (Season 7 Big Bad)

Monster: Evil itself- the source of all evil- takes the form of dead loved ones.

Real-life application: Depression, despair, and internal self-destruction- the First/Satan whispers lies and hopelessness into people’s hearts and minds... just like depression and satan does.

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17. Caleb (Season 7)

Monster: A misogynistic catholic priest possessed by the First Evil.

Real-life application: Religious extremism, misogyny, abuse of faith and place of power and how some people use religion to hurt and control others and push end up pushing people away from God

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18. The Gentlemen (again, because it’s SO important)

Real-life deeper layer: How fear silences us....especially around trauma, assault, grief, or asking for help.

Buffy didn’t just slay monsters.

She fought the things inside us and others.

Fear.

Abuse.

Addiction.

Loneliness.

Grief.

Self-destruction.

Loss of innocence.

Identity.

And she won.

And so can we.

Buffy taught me that surviving isn't about being fearless.

It’s about standing up with your fear.

It's about speaking up, even if you're trembling.

It’s about choosing life even when it hurts.

It’s about finding meaning inside the brokenness.

Buffy isn't just a Slayer.

She was every survivor who has ever kept going when it would’ve been easier to give up.

She was all of us...

Trying to survive.

Trying to heal.

Trying to love without losing ourselves.

Trying to be brave even when we wanted to call it quits.

And that's why "Buffy the vampire slayer" will always be the best show on earth....

It's not just fantasy...

it's not just fiction...

It’s truth.

It’s life.

It’s home

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Kristen, Unfiltered Xo 💋

"Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise."

Micah 7:8