True Blood fans express devotion in a variety of ways

Lynn's creative wallpapers are available for free download on her web site

One of my favorite things about attending PaleyFest09 was getting to meet other True Blood fans and learn about different forms of expressing fan devotion.

One of the people I met at PaleyFest09 was Lynnpd, whom I first started communicating with via my Twitter account. Lynn was at PaleyFest09 representing the fansite The Vault.

She recently emailed me some great Stephen Moyer wallpapers she created. I love seeing how fans take their skills and interests and channel them in to these creative forms of fan expression. Lynn uses her professional background to create wallpapers whose colors, textures and photos are full of the energy of a given scene or aspect of the show. They are available for download on Lynn's web site. She is generously allowing fans to enjoy these wallpapers for free!

For a larger view and to download visit Lynn's web site

One of the most hilarious forms of expressed fan devotion I have seen is http://www.icanhastrublood.blogspot.com/. For those of you not familiar with what icanhastrueblood is based on, they are copying a style of humor first developed by the site Lolcats, wherein people post silly photos of their cats and create captions to accompany them.  That site is called http://icanhascheezburger.com/ and is a great site to check out if you're having a bad day and need something to smile about.

For the avid True Blood fan needing something to smile about, icanhastrueblood is the perfect fix. Site creator, Anna Joy of Sacramento, California, had cleverly taken screenshots from the show and created captions to go with them in trsditional incanhascheezburger style. Anna Joy classifies her site as "a blog dedicated to the lolling of images from the HBO show True Blood. "I can't wait to see what Anna lols from Season 2! 

More True Blood lolings can be viewed on I can has TruBlood

 At PaleyFest09 I also saw fans expressing their devotion through scrapbooking. Yes, that innocent pastime we once thought dominated by young moms seeking to document little Billy's every cute expression and little league game has now been taken over by True Blood fans eager to document Vampire Bill's every scary expression and sexy toothsome smile.

Do you love True Blood enough to scrapbook it?

And just when you thought it couldn't get even more devout, there's more. Fans have started using Twitter as a means of True Blood roleplaying. By the simple means of creating a free Twitter account, you too can follow SookieBonTemps, EricNorthman, VampireBill and many other characters from the show. Each character tweets often and interacts with one another while following various storylines that while based on the books or show, seem to have branched off independently into their own storylines. SookieBonTemps is not with VampireBill, for example. She's with EricNorthman. Following their inventive storylines is surprisingly entertaining, especially if you're like me and don't generally enjoy roleplaying online.

What do all of these expressed forms of fan devotion have in common? They are funny, original and great for helping fans stay connected to the show while waiting for the season 2 premiere. These modes of fan expression have also helped fans connect with the show in a way that is personal and meaningful to them. They have taken a show they love and truly made it their own. One may interpret this as a possible waste of money and time. But hey, it's our money and our time, and we couldn't be having more fun!

How do you express your devotion toward True Blood? Do you have a special form of fan devotion you'd like featured either on Vampire Nerd or the Portland Vampire Examiner? If so, leave your comments!