Bear Your Fandom Allegiance
This is very peripherally related to angearia's recent ponderings about het/gen/slash. Okay, not really even related, but discussing it in comments brought me to this side-question of fannish identification and affiliation. Obviously, fandom has its "factions". A lot of it thanks to The Great Shipper Wars that I missed, being a late-comer and all. But fans
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*shakes fist at you*
1. I have been thinking about Spike fandom, in particular, and how it acts in reaction to the vast amount of controversy the character garnered as the show aired. I tend to think Spike fans are particularly staunch in their identification as Spike Fans, as a result.
3. *g* My long fics almost all center on Spuffy to some degree. However, my short fics/drabbles have a lot more variety. Admittedly, that's because I take on prompts and challenges to get a bit of change in character. :)
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I only started watching the show in the first place cause of my love for the movie. Yes, the movie :P
My favorite character is Spike (dur--like you didn'tk now), but one of my favorite seasons is s3, in which he was only in 1/22 of the season. However, he was an essential part to season six, and I probably wouldn't have bothered with s7 had he not been there. In fact, I remember thinking when I first watched "Lessons"--
Oh, Dawn's in high school. Yawn. Where's Spike now?
Well, not exactly that, but you catch my drift.
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*boggles*
I've never seen the movie because Joss doesn't want me to. ;)
Also, let me say that I find it crazy appalling that as a Spuffy, you can't inquire about a ship that's else. I mean...the idea of that kind of limitation nearly made my brain collapse.
It did puzzle me. Really. Especially as my meta's never been limited to Spuffy.
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The movie came out when I was...seven. I saw it in the theatre and was just...that was my shit. That's all I can really say. It's campy, sure, but that was my beginning for this fandom :)
And even if your meta had been limited to Spuffy... You don't have to just enjoy or ponder one thing. It's a very provincial state of mind. Thinky thoughts of any kind without limits is of the good I think :D
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I love almost every major character on Buffy and I have thoughts on all of them, particularly Angel.
I used to find the trenches between the various ships absurd until I got into message board, where it's hard not to become loyal to one side or another once the bashing starts.
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I used to find the trenches between the various ships absurd until I got into message board, where it's hard not to become loyal to one side or another once the bashing starts.
I think the shipping wars are more polarizing than anything else. People get defensive and cling closer to their preferred ship. Then people start to demonize the opposition, they become "the enemy", people form like-minded, insular factions, and it gets pretty ridiculous after a while.
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2. Yeah, I pretty much stick to Spike/Buffy fics. I also like Spike-Dawn friendship fics, but most of my reading is Spuffy.
3. My fics are pretty much all Spuffy, apart from a couple of Spike on his own, Spike-Dawn friendship and some drabbles that focus on Andrew. And even then, even if Spike and Buffy aren't mentioned, in my mind it's still Spuffy. Does that make sense?
Same for my art, I mostly make Spuffy pieces, and it's weird, I've found myself having trouble with pieces that don't feature Spuffy or Spike. I've recently had a few Doctor Who requests, and found them a lot more difficult to do than my BtVS/Spuffy art. Which I find strange, because in the end they're all just pictures.
Long-ish answer to a simple question - but my answer is pretty much a big 'yes'.
4. No for this one, I fell in love with the show before Spike and Spuffy. But when I pick episodes to watch, I find myself choosing Spike-centric or Spuffy episodes more often than not.
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Oh, totally. My fics pretty much always "assume" Spuffy, even if it's not about Spuffy. Though I don't know if that would change if I wrote more early season fics...
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'Course I only identify so strongly as a Spike fan because other factions make me. See my post re identifying with characters. :)
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*shakes fist at you* :)
'Course I only identify so strongly as a Spike fan because other factions make me. See my post re identifying with characters. :)
Yep. I've been wondering how much of the identification is in reaction to the various fandom controversies that go on. People heaping blame on Spike's character for "ruining the show", it's natural for people who like him to identify as Spike fans to show support against the criticism. And you get that with fans of other characters, as well (though I think it's especially noteworthy with Spike fans given how very divisive his character is/was).
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Yes, we've developed a bit of a siege mentality. If you want to know why, go back to that post on identifying characters and follow the links to Fandom Wank in one of sockmonkeyhere's comments. An extreme example, but not that uncommon back in the day.
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