Comments | eilowyn: Thoughts on Spuffy and Fandom

eilowyn

Thoughts on Spuffy and Fandom

Apr 09, 2013 15:02

"This assessment of fan fiction in terms of realism--and the segmentation of fanfic communities that follows from this--are evident in, as one among many examples, the circulation of Buffy/Spike stories in the BtVS fandom. Stories about a vampire slayer and a vampire allow a great deal of freedom to manipulate or avoid any scripted reality. However ( Read more... )

fan studies, ship: spike/buffy

Comments 73

kudagirl April 9 2013, 22:20:05 UTC

Some Spike/Buffy stories were dismissively summarized as 'Spuffy,' combining the pairing as a homonym for fluffy, implying they were mere fantasies. Wow, I never knew that. I came late to the fandom so I wasn't around for the Bangel vs Spuffy wars during the time the show was still on the air.

EW seems to have a real grudge about Spuffy. They talk it down each time they bring up the fandom. It must have burned them that Bangel lost to the Fluffy couple of Spuffy. Hee!

eilowyn April 10 2013, 21:04:32 UTC

EW and I have had a rocky relationship. I equate it to an unhappy marriage.

kikimay April 9 2013, 22:32:46 UTC

LET ME LOVE THIS POST AND EVERYTHING ABOUT IT.
I'm hating EW right now. I feel a large amound of negative energy coming from me. Your post makes things slightly better. I also didn't have any clue about Spuffy name, but we certainly reclaimed for Good. Thank you for posting this.

eilowyn April 10 2013, 21:05:29 UTC

This post was pretty much word vomit while I was stressed and high on cold medicine, but I'm glad you enjoyed it!

rebcake April 10 2013, 00:20:06 UTC

I have always read the Spike/Buffy relationship as being more realistic than the Buffy/Angel relationship.I'm not sure I do. In my (oh so vast) experience, many relationships follow the Buffy/Angel template: attraction, a short honeymoon period where everything seems great, and then the difficult work of actually getting along with someone begins, leading to the inevitable breakup and drifting apart. I'd say a majority of people don't really want to bother once the initial "thrill is gone". Even people who do want to really, truly commit often have to try a few times before they get it right. Brain studies show that our decision-making skills haven't really matured until about 25 years of age ( ... )

rahirah April 10 2013, 04:16:01 UTC

I don't see either relationship as more realistic or mature than the other. They're just different, and I happen to like the Buffy/Spike dynamic better. Or to be more precise, I like the potential Buffy/Spike dynamic better - still not all that thrilled with where it went in canon.

rebcake April 10 2013, 09:57:03 UTC

I think that immature romantic relationships are necessary, and not to be mocked. Much. I say this as the parent of a 17-year-old. ;-)

rahirah April 10 2013, 17:42:34 UTC

Heh, well, maybe it's that I see them as equally immature, just in different ways. *g*

Thread 10

rahirah April 10 2013, 04:09:47 UTC

Yeah, 'Spuffy' was initially used in a derogatory sense by Buffy/Angel shippers and/or 'darker' Buffy/Spike shippers who wanted to distinguish themselves from the horde of newbies who flooded into the ship in seasons five and six. As of S5-ish, pairing smushnames were a brand new thing in BtVS fandom, and regarded as rather silly all around. Serious Fans would use Buffy/Spike or S/B (many people avoided B/S because a number of extremely mature B/A shippers would go "Nyah, nyah, Buffy/Spike is BS ( ... )

shipperx April 10 2013, 04:38:03 UTC

I'm not really helpful regarding the Buffy fandom prior to Season5. I watched the show since season 1, but was casual about it until 5. I was online and in fandom prior to 5, but it was X-Files and Roswell fandom. Anything I knew of the Buffy fandom in those days was witnessed at a distance. I got involved with BtVS fandom at the Spike Redemptionista stage.

rahirah April 10 2013, 17:35:55 UTC

Well, you still have me beat - I didn't get into fandom till post-Intervention!

shipperx April 10 2013, 21:38:13 UTC

I got sucked back in at that stage (having abandoned at Crush due to the David Fury brouhaha.

Thread 18

shipperx April 10 2013, 04:25:08 UTC

It sounds like the writer got her ideas of Spuffy from bangels.

eilowyn April 10 2013, 21:20:14 UTC

Maybe. But she uses Nautibitz as an example of PWP, so . . .

shipperx April 10 2013, 21:33:54 UTC

From my memory of Nautibitz's stuff, she wrote PWP quite often.

quinara April 11 2013, 07:57:43 UTC

I read this book at one stage (and dare I say, really didn't like it) and I don't remember agreeing with any of the Buffy stuff at all (or much of it). It's not only the Bangel-lensed history, but the heart-of-the-flamewars mentality, when there was even at that time a whole hinterland of archive people who (as now) didn't really care.