Season 5 ended. Buffy died, and we waited on tender hooks for the word to come down the pipe. The Bronze Emergency Shelter, once used as a spot fix for those times when the Bronze crashed, was suddenly becoming more and more of a factor for people, much to the despair of Kristen's bandwidth. We splintered, going to several different boards across the 'net. Some were public, some were invite only. People that the linear board never even knew existed came into our radar, simply because the threaded boards didn't exist, and you know what? Some of them were damn cool! The Boston Bronzers actually got bigger, and I found myself coming full circle by saying to someone, "You're in Boston? Dude! You have to come to dinner." Xanderella! The Bronze Beta came into being. It was a good effort, and it looked like a duck and quacked like a duck, but just....wasn't. UPN showed up, and everybody prepared to get back together, thinking that we were going to be okay.

Then we saw it, and ran like hell from what Allyson herself has dubbed "My Frankenstein." And yet, even fragmented as we wereŠthe Bronze still went on.

I drove to Toronto with Robyn. I met Sam*, and I got everyone kicked out of the bar, even though I still maintain that it wasn't my fault, and Godeater started it all by egging me on, damn him. I gained Zoey, and went back to Canada for a while. Then I flew to Vegas, where things are ...... never quite what they seem. *Sam is not Canadian, he just met a bunch of us there

And over the course of that fall, after Buffy came back from the dead, things....settled. Factions called truce for the party that year, much to the surprise of many of us. The PBP raised $20,000.00 for Make-A-Wish, and the Bronze justŠkept rolling. We squabbled, we fought, we sent baby baskets. LiveJournal became a bigger facet than other outlets, and some people have retreated into that safety, never to be seen on a public board again.

There are those who call themselves Bronzers. Then there are those who will look at these newbies and say, "That's a nice sentiment dear, but, well, no. You're not." For years, people have (on and off) been trying to nail down the definition of what a Bronzer is. How long do you have to be around to claim that title? We've been told we're mean, we're elitist, and a big bunch of clique-ey snobs. But we're not. We just know that being a Bronzer wasn't something you justŠfell into. It was something you had to earn. You have to be able to keep up. The Bronze was made up of highly intelligent, creative people whose minds moved at a fast pace. (Unless there was whup involved. Then all bets were off) A lot of people complained we were harsh. We weren't harsh, we just didn't coddle. People have told me that the Bronze had a reputation as "The hard board with the mean people". That's fine. Here's your hat, don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

But if you could keep up ­ you would never find a more generous group of people. I have learned more from the Bronze than I could ever begin to put down here. I have made friends that I would happily hurt other people to defend.

When I went to the PBP this year, we went in knowing it was the last time this would happen. Oh, there would be get-togethers, because any excuse to party is a good excuse to party, in the Bronze-verse. But this ­ this was like graduation. Before we left, I stood in the doorway of the American Legion Hall in Los Angeles and said to Little Sister and Polgara, "This is the last one, you know." We stood there, and I got a truly fitting response from Polgara:

"This is us, taking a moment."
*silence for a beat*
*all three of us turn to the door in unison*
"And we're done."

That was our graduation. Because the Bronze was a learning experience. And even though the official site has been out of existence for two years now, we're still around. We're quieter, and there are far less ads taken out in Variety, but we're around. We've gone our own ways, and the people we wanted to keep have been kept. In an odd way, it was high school, complete with our very own cast of characters. There were the leaders - Blade, Allyson, Kristen, etc. ­ who could call to arms a number of Bronzers at any given moment to get the job done. We had our enigmatics - Jaan Quiddam, Godeater, Terwilliger, the ones that wouldn't say much, but come in every so often to drop something either utterly fascinating or incredibly odd into the bandwidth, then walk off with an innocent look on their face. The academics - SarahNicole, DarkLady, & OzLady, who were willing to deal with us, the unruly students. We had the people that were justŠthe people that everyone liked - Polgara, Vanessa, greeneyes, who if you said anything against them, would bring down the holy rages of hell upon your soul when everybody else called you on it. We had our crusty bitter young men - Psycho Sam & Bastion Ridley. We even had our very own undisputed asshole in the form of Meteor, that flaming shit rock piece of trash to be kicked into the gutter. We ran the whole gamut.

Seven years after its inception, the Bronze has inspired annoyance, hate, rage, love, and loyalty. But most importantly were the times when it brought forth joy. Because online, there are mountains of sites with pictures from Bronzer get-togethers, and in them ­ we're smiling. We're laughing, we're handcuffing people to bedposts and licking kenickieBuddha's belly.

So on this, the day of the Series Finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I wanted to say a little something about the soap opera that spawned from the show. I wanted to thank the cast and crew of Buffy for what they inadvertently created, and had not only the good grace to roll right along with, but honestly seemed to enjoy. But most of all, I wanted to say something to record the Bronze, as a small way of expressing my gratitude to Bronzers. They are my friends. They are my conspirators.

They are my people.