It's ok to love them both... I did!

[Nix]

Yeah yeah if you know where the quote is from you know it's not a Buffy one but... but... it fits in my opinion.

Although when I watched the show as it aired I was a massive Buffy and Angel shipper, I appreciated Spike's character but not his relationship with Buffy... NOW WAIT all you Spuffies out there...




I now strongly believe she loved them both. Maybe, yes, in different ways but they had been through different experiences together so it will be unique each one.

What do you think now? Have your opinions changed on this triangle?

 

[DeepBlueJoy]

Yeah yeah if you know where the quote is from you know it's not a Buffy one but... but... it fits in my opinion.

Although when I watched the show as it aired I was a massive Buffy and Angel shipper, I appreciated Spike's character but not his relationship with Buffy... NOW WAIT all you Spuffies out there...




I now strongly believe she loved them both. Maybe, yes, in different ways but they had been through different experiences together so it will be unique each one.

What do you think now? Have your opinions changed on this triangle?

I've never understood the hate-on for either ship. I think it's immature, illogical, idiotic and kind of bigoted. It gets so nasty that I'm fully ashamed to be part of fandom when I see the stuff people write to and about other fans. It makes my stomach turn more than any details of EITHER ship.

Also, PLEASE: remember this is FICTION. Please.

I DO have issues with both relationships, because, I think there's no such thing as a perfect relationship AND the circumstances of a human/vampire relationship will always be fraught in some way, maybe more than one way... And yes, she was young when she started dating (and frankly even when she was with Spike)

But... Buffy was deeply aware, especially in her early Sunnydale days when her life likely felt even more precarious than it may have done later after a few deaths... (ironic, that!)

AND:

If someone's old enough to die brutally painfully and thanklessly and without payment for her planet, she's old enough to grab onto love. She was older than she could have been called, so thankfully, not a 'child' (I would have had deep issues with Angel had she been younger), though I know some people will have issues with that line not being drawn firmly at 18, much of the rest of the world has variation about ages of consent, and I'm not convinced the get it right, but I am also not convinced that 18 is a magic number. I don't think 17 is 12 or 14 and I know her situation was absolutely unique.

BTW, in case you are going to start getting 'extra' on me for defending underage sex, I'm actually a spuffy shipper... as much as I am any kind of shipper. If you want to know why, you can read the many thousands of words I've written here and elsewhere to justify that position.

ANGEL: I don't blame Buffy for grabbing onto the love she could have, with someone who probably felt more of an equal than any human man ever would. And yes, he was hot and mysterious, which is catnip to most young women.

SPIKE: I also don't blame her for grabbing solace with Spike. She was alienated from the world, LIFE and her friends. He was willing to be there for her in a way that none of her friends even thought of trying to notice she needed.

yes, yes, I'm deliberately being simplistic about both relationships b/c I've made my point countless times about them and I am not going to get into the shipping wars with anyone. I have a preference for one of the relationships, but I think both were entirely real and valid. we all remember some of our past relationships with fondness, even if they didn't end up being 'the' relationship. I feel the same way about Buffy and Spike and Buffy and Angel. (Don't ask me about Riley please. I think he was a vile misery engine.)

I am beyond tired of people calling shippers 'pedophile lovers' or 'rapist apologists' because NEITHER is a remotely accurate interpretation of the material. If you leave off fanfic and fan head canon, you have a teenager (and eventually a young woman) with a loudly blaring EXPIRATION DATE, who lives her life essentially ALONE - yes, even when her friends were 100% on board. NO ONE can fully share that burden with her. Having a partner doesn't change that, but having a partner means she feels more connected, and more supported. We all need this.

Both Angel and Spike helped Buffy have a reason to keep existing.

The woman with the weight of the planet (and once, the weight of ALL realities) on her shoulder is FULLY ENTITLED to live and love, AND I'M PROUD SHE DID IT... It was her right TO LIVE AS MUCH AS SHE COULD. End of story.

Who Buffy loves, who she sleeps with, who she chooses... is HER BUSINESS. Everyone needs to connect. It seems from canon that slayers feel their need of sex more than most people... probably because of the adrenalized lives they live and their awareness of just how close to the edge every moment is.

Peace,

Blue

 

[quillandfang]

I don't really ship Bangel or Spuffy, but I can see the strengths and flaws of both. I never really understood ship wars; I think people get unnecessarily hostile over them, and a fan should be allowed to like or dislike a ship without getting attacked over it. Therefore I think it's perfectly valid to like both! Bangel and Spuffy were different relationships that occurred at different times in Buffy's life and played different roles in the narrative. They both certainly aren't without issues, but the show wouldn't have been the same without them.

 

[twoslayers]

I’m not really a Bangel or Spuffy shipper personally. In my fanfics, I almost invariably pair Buffy with either Faith or Tara.

I suppose I don’t hate the Buffy/Angel pairing until the events of late Season 2. But in Season 3 and when they see each other beyond that it kind of bugs me, the idea that they could in any sense pick up such a short time after hurting each other so much.

As for Buffy/Spike, around Season 5 to very early 6 I can half way root for them. Spike awkwardly trying to be sweet to Buffy kind of works. But in Season 6 their relationship becomes mutually abusive and I come to really dislike the pairing. Again in Season 7, I think it stretches credibility for them to have any kind of relationship after hurting each other so recently. The events of Something Red in particular makes it a toxic relationship to me.

Now I did mention I like to pair Buffy with Faith. That could have been pretty toxic too I hear you say. But I do think it would have to be either very AU, pre Faith going bad, or years later to work. Similarly, maybe Buffy/Spike could work in an AU setting or a canon divergent scenario where their relationship is more wholesome, where perhaps Spike is there for Buffy to talk to more after her resurrection. But as it actually pans out on the show, I really don’t like the pairing.

Bottom line, I think Buffy deserved someone who really loved her and didn’t hurt her.

 

[DeepBlueJoy]

In much of my fic i don't ship her with anyone from BtVS. Maybe my favourite non-btvs pairing is Teal'c from Stargate SG-1

I think she deserves joy. I don't sweat how that happens.

Probably why i am not so invested in shipping wars. I am limited only by my imagination and all the imaginable crossover universes. Fun.

Edit; yes i pair her with Teal'c. In a different fic i pair her with Daniel Jackson. In yet another, Dan Scott from One Tree Hill. That was fun!