Static to the sound of you and I.
THIS ONE IS EVEN MORE SHOCKING. SERIOUSLY THO.
Because I like them in black and white, okay.
So. Why Spike and Buffy? Well. Have you met me? Favorite female. Favorite male. Favorite arcs. Favorite damn kids. I can talk about them to death.
And I suppose I could fill this space here now by talking up the best qualities of the ship, or explaining why their worst qualities don't matter or why they should end up together in the long run or why they are the Best Ship Evar!!1!1!! But... lol, this is not a defense. I have no interest in defending my ship.
(Which... is apparently rare in these parts? I see so much of Spike/Buffy fandom often seeming to be ashamed of their ship. Which... is sad. We should be PROUD, yo. I mean, WE BROKE ALL OF TELEVISION, AFTER ALL!! HOW MANY SHIPS CAN STAKE THAT CLAIM, HUH? HOW MANY.)
Really, what it comes down to, is that I get them. I understand how they relate. I can shift in and out of both characters' points of view when they're interacting. I connect. And I don't connect easily with things, so the ones that do take a hold of me, I'll cling on to forevah.
But lemme just take a mo to attempt to articulate some things that I'm sure other people are wiser than to admit:
1. So, I think anybody who spends five seconds in fandom can observe that S/B is CONTROVERSIAL AS SHIT. There is nothing safe or easy about them. I know that what a person ships in fiction doesn't necessarily line up with what ~kind of person you are in real life, but I gotta admit... This one does. HOLD UP DON'T JUMP TO THE WRONG CONCLUSION NOW. What I mean by that is: I'm not the kind of person who's attracted to safe things. I'm fairly sure I approach fictional ~shipping the way Spike approaches romantic relationships -- like he's climbing Mt. Everest. I fall for things because they challenge me. I need to be challenged, because I'm a person with a motherload of ungovernable passion that will likely turn destructive if not channeled. Moreover, I need to continue to be challenged. I've never cared much about ~results~. When I get handed things, I end up not wanting them. In fact: I tend to be in love with the impossible. Much like my favorite fictional characters. :)
So. Clearly, I am exactly the right sort of person for a ship like Spike/Buffy. *g* Because WHAT SHIP IS MORE CHALLENGING THAN THESE TWO?? Really though. WHAT? They're hard to root for; hard to keep faith in; hard to be a fan of. Getting invested in them can get one in a lot of trouble. And pain. Naturally, I'm there.
2. Moreover, I have an unnerving tendency to be drawn to them for all the 'wrong' reasons. All the flak that they get - for making each other miserable, for being BAD for one another, for being ridiculously hard to understand, for never getting it right. These minuses are not minuses. They're fucked up. Everyone can see that they're fucked up. I love them for it. Maybe it comes from being a staunch pessimist - but the fact that these two are portrayed as WRONG equally as often as they're portrayed as 'right'... is what allows me to love them freely.
And, not gonna lie, whenever I see people in fandom accusing S/B shippers of being sick twisted fucks, I feel pretty bad-ass. Can't deny.
3. I don't really see them as a romance. They're a not-romance. They're always not-quite. They don't ever meet the ideal of the glorious burning true love fans want from them. They're always one step forward, two steps back. They don't get certainty, or vast declarative statements like "I LOVE YOU MORE THAN I WILL EVER LOVE ANYTHING IN THIS LIFE!!!" These two? They get "Does it have to mean something?" They're a question mark. Spike + Buffy = ???
I'm okay with that. Like I said. I don't care about results.
4. And finally: They are fascinating as fuck. Theses can be written about these two. I can literally spend hours trying to figure them out. They are the single most complex ship of the 'verse. The single most complex ship I've encountered. Nothing's gonna get better than that.
And now I'm gonna toss this exchange from Smashed here, because it sums up every. thing. i love about them. These kids. I love them.
SPIKE: (grinning) Oh, poor little lost girl. She doesn't fit in anywhere. She's got no one to love.
BUFFY: Me? I'm lost? Look at you, you idiot! Poor Spikey. Can't be a human, can't be a vampire. Where the hell do you fit in?
Because I like them in black and white, okay.
So. Why Spike and Buffy? Well. Have you met me? Favorite female. Favorite male. Favorite arcs. Favorite damn kids. I can talk about them to death.
And I suppose I could fill this space here now by talking up the best qualities of the ship, or explaining why their worst qualities don't matter or why they should end up together in the long run or why they are the Best Ship Evar!!1!1!! But... lol, this is not a defense. I have no interest in defending my ship.
(Which... is apparently rare in these parts? I see so much of Spike/Buffy fandom often seeming to be ashamed of their ship. Which... is sad. We should be PROUD, yo. I mean, WE BROKE ALL OF TELEVISION, AFTER ALL!! HOW MANY SHIPS CAN STAKE THAT CLAIM, HUH? HOW MANY.)
Really, what it comes down to, is that I get them. I understand how they relate. I can shift in and out of both characters' points of view when they're interacting. I connect. And I don't connect easily with things, so the ones that do take a hold of me, I'll cling on to forevah.
But lemme just take a mo to attempt to articulate some things that I'm sure other people are wiser than to admit:
1. So, I think anybody who spends five seconds in fandom can observe that S/B is CONTROVERSIAL AS SHIT. There is nothing safe or easy about them. I know that what a person ships in fiction doesn't necessarily line up with what ~kind of person you are in real life, but I gotta admit... This one does. HOLD UP DON'T JUMP TO THE WRONG CONCLUSION NOW. What I mean by that is: I'm not the kind of person who's attracted to safe things. I'm fairly sure I approach fictional ~shipping the way Spike approaches romantic relationships -- like he's climbing Mt. Everest. I fall for things because they challenge me. I need to be challenged, because I'm a person with a motherload of ungovernable passion that will likely turn destructive if not channeled. Moreover, I need to continue to be challenged. I've never cared much about ~results~. When I get handed things, I end up not wanting them. In fact: I tend to be in love with the impossible. Much like my favorite fictional characters. :)
So. Clearly, I am exactly the right sort of person for a ship like Spike/Buffy. *g* Because WHAT SHIP IS MORE CHALLENGING THAN THESE TWO?? Really though. WHAT? They're hard to root for; hard to keep faith in; hard to be a fan of. Getting invested in them can get one in a lot of trouble. And pain. Naturally, I'm there.
2. Moreover, I have an unnerving tendency to be drawn to them for all the 'wrong' reasons. All the flak that they get - for making each other miserable, for being BAD for one another, for being ridiculously hard to understand, for never getting it right. These minuses are not minuses. They're fucked up. Everyone can see that they're fucked up. I love them for it. Maybe it comes from being a staunch pessimist - but the fact that these two are portrayed as WRONG equally as often as they're portrayed as 'right'... is what allows me to love them freely.
And, not gonna lie, whenever I see people in fandom accusing S/B shippers of being sick twisted fucks, I feel pretty bad-ass. Can't deny.
3. I don't really see them as a romance. They're a not-romance. They're always not-quite. They don't ever meet the ideal of the glorious burning true love fans want from them. They're always one step forward, two steps back. They don't get certainty, or vast declarative statements like "I LOVE YOU MORE THAN I WILL EVER LOVE ANYTHING IN THIS LIFE!!!" These two? They get "Does it have to mean something?" They're a question mark. Spike + Buffy = ???
I'm okay with that. Like I said. I don't care about results.
4. And finally: They are fascinating as fuck. Theses can be written about these two. I can literally spend hours trying to figure them out. They are the single most complex ship of the 'verse. The single most complex ship I've encountered. Nothing's gonna get better than that.
And now I'm gonna toss this exchange from Smashed here, because it sums up every. thing. i love about them. These kids. I love them.
SPIKE: (grinning) Oh, poor little lost girl. She doesn't fit in anywhere. She's got no one to love.
BUFFY: Me? I'm lost? Look at you, you idiot! Poor Spikey. Can't be a human, can't be a vampire. Where the hell do you fit in?