I think I will just stay on my own front porch for awhile
As it happens, I think that there are several instances during the latter half of S6 when Buffy didn't treat Spike with kindness or respect. I think that many of her actions and statements admit of several interpretations, some less flattering than others. All other things being equal, in a given situation I tend to sympathize with Spike more than Buffy, and to empathize with Spike most of the time.
I don't think Buffy owes Spike love. I don't think she needs to grovel. I cringe when I read fic which has Buffy speechifying at length about how wonderful Spike is and how awful all her friends are and what a blind blind fool she was not to see it before.
I'm not saying any of this because I want to argue about it. I just want to point out that it is possible to be critical of Buffy, and to be dissatisfied with her story arc, without wanting to see her humiliated or to abase herself to Spike. (And, I would hope, the reverse.) Some Buffy fans have their own baggage which leads them to sympathize or empathize more with Buffy and defend her against all comers. The same thing goes for some Spike fans. Somehow, when it's one's own favorite character, it's completely reasonable and logical argument, but when it's someone else's favorite character, they're obviously demonizing your woobie and sanctifying their own.
Spuffy fandom used to be a very Spike-centric place. These days (at least on LJ, or at least on my friends list) it's a lot more Buffy-centric. A line in the comments of a recently linked meta post sums up the current zeitgeist: in S6, Buffy was struggling with depression, and Spike was horrible and manipulative. There have been many times recently when I've felt that saying anything remotely critical of Buffy is going to get me kicked out of the Spuffy clubhouse.
In the Olden Days, the situation was reversed, and the Buffy-centric fans were the beleaguered minority. (At least, on the mailing lists and boards I frequented at the time.) That's not good or bad; it just is. Fandoms change as old fans drop out and new ones drop in. In two or three years, maybe, it will be something completely different again.
Hell, wait two weeks and it'll be all NASCAR AUs.
I don't think Buffy owes Spike love. I don't think she needs to grovel. I cringe when I read fic which has Buffy speechifying at length about how wonderful Spike is and how awful all her friends are and what a blind blind fool she was not to see it before.
I'm not saying any of this because I want to argue about it. I just want to point out that it is possible to be critical of Buffy, and to be dissatisfied with her story arc, without wanting to see her humiliated or to abase herself to Spike. (And, I would hope, the reverse.) Some Buffy fans have their own baggage which leads them to sympathize or empathize more with Buffy and defend her against all comers. The same thing goes for some Spike fans. Somehow, when it's one's own favorite character, it's completely reasonable and logical argument, but when it's someone else's favorite character, they're obviously demonizing your woobie and sanctifying their own.
Spuffy fandom used to be a very Spike-centric place. These days (at least on LJ, or at least on my friends list) it's a lot more Buffy-centric. A line in the comments of a recently linked meta post sums up the current zeitgeist: in S6, Buffy was struggling with depression, and Spike was horrible and manipulative. There have been many times recently when I've felt that saying anything remotely critical of Buffy is going to get me kicked out of the Spuffy clubhouse.
In the Olden Days, the situation was reversed, and the Buffy-centric fans were the beleaguered minority. (At least, on the mailing lists and boards I frequented at the time.) That's not good or bad; it just is. Fandoms change as old fans drop out and new ones drop in. In two or three years, maybe, it will be something completely different again.
Hell, wait two weeks and it'll be all NASCAR AUs.