We are a Family

    I remember the first time I fell in love with Damon Salvatore. It was his epic dance moves and dark humor that caught my attention, but it was his love for his family, and his hidden kind personality that made me stay through all 8 seasons of the show and I was not the only one. Vampire Diaries is one of the most watched and loved shows with a huge fandom base. The show has millions of followers on instagram, facebook where the fandoms dress up and talk about the show, and twitter. The show first aired on September 10th, 2009 with 4.906 million views ("The Vampire Diaries wiki", 2020) on the pilot alone and 12 years later the fans still can't get enough of the cast and still obsessing if you were team Delena or Team Stelena. Vampire Diaries is a show about a bond between two vampire brothers, Stefan and Damon who moved back to their hometown to go to high school for the 20th time. During this time Stefan falls in love with a girl who happens to be the same girl that Damon is also in love with and coincidently  a doppelgänger of his first love. With that comes 8 seasons of blood sucking, epic vampire fights, and a run of a lifetime from their enemies sent to destroy them. 

     fan page on Vampire Diaries on Instagram has 3.8 Million followers with me included as a loyal follower of 4 years. One of my favorite fandom places is the fictional place from the show called Mystic Falls. Because of the huge fan base they actually turned the set into a tourist city to show all the places the characters lived, ate, hung-out, and went to school. My favorite place in the tourist city is the mystic grill where you are able to eat all the characters favorite meal, drink at the same bar that Damon Salvatore drank at, and have a taste of their favorite snack "vampire blood." (Explore Georgia", 2021)    Another one of my favorites is The Vampire Diaries Comic Con where the fans are able to meet their favorite characters from the show, ask questions, and interact with the cast. The convention is usually a course of three days with different activities like a panel , meet and greet, and a place to eat and drink and buy your favorite merchandise in your best vampire costume. Heres a link to book your trip to the next Comic Con:https://fancons.com/events/info/17443/the-vampire-diaries-and-the-originals-official-convention-2021  

     I think what makes this so important for the fandom community is going to these conventions or tourist cities. By going to these things it lets the fandoms know that they matter, It is such a great opportunity to meet the characters which is a lifelong dream of many of these fanatics. I know I would die if I was able to meet Ian Somerhalder. (Damon)

    When they are at the convention, the fans create posters, T-shirts, and videos for the fans to show their appreciation. Some of the cast members even have their own whisky company based on the show called Brother's Bond Bourbon. A lot of people don't understand the environment fandoms create or understand why they are even fandoms in the first place, but it is because it is a way to connect to the characters and other fandoms and makes you feel like you are not alone in the world.  Fandoms are more than a group, they are a family.