Spike's Life After Death
Funnest experience ever: evacuating down nine flights of stairs while drugged up on Ambien because of a fire alarm. That was a dreamtastic time. Damned if I can remember most of it.
Anyway, I'm back and am catching up on my flist. There's been some posts lately about Spike/Buffy and their final ending. Not the in-show ending, but the ultimate ending for the couple.
I feel compelled to weigh in.
I don't have any great expectations for Spike/Buffy late on in life. I would love to see fics with an older Buffy fighting beside her vampire partner. But, in my happy Spuffy place, they live a happy life together.
And then Buffy dies.
I can't fathom Buffy being/becoming immortal. For one, I don't think she'd choose to be immortal ever (through a claim or whatnot). She has too many attachments to the world. Dawn, Giles, the Scoobies. She wouldn't be able to detach herself from them to allow them to die around her while she continues on. And she shouldn't have to. She's earned the right to live in the world. And that includes aging and dying.
All the characters (barring the vamps) will die someday. Buffy, Willow, Giles, Dawn, Xander...all of them. It's an inevitability. They're human.
Dying of old age is really the most appropriate death for the girl who, at age 15, was destined to die the next year and then wasn't expected to live past 20. Even at the end, Buffy breaks all the rules. She's a Slayer who lives as long as she physically can until she passes away from natural old age.
While there is some appeal in Buffy going out in a blaze o' glory, old age is actually the perfect death for her story.
But what about Spike? True and devoted Spike?
My Spike is a vampire. He won't become human. He won't age with Buffy. He won't die with Buffy. He won't walk into the sun after her death.
After Drusilla, the woman he'd spent a century with, left him, Spike went on. And he surely developed by miles after that. What's to make us think Spike will fall on the metaphorical sword once Buffy dies? Would that be the best way for him to honor her memory?
I imagine this is something Buffy and Spike will discuss at some point. It's just part of the deal in a human/vamp relationship. And while Spike will definitely mourn and miss Buffy after her death, he will continue on.
By the end of the series, Spike comes to accept that there's more to life than Romantic Interest. He'll be devoted to Buffy during their years together. He'll be by her side without fail. But he will have a world outside of her, as he should. That is the world that he'll still have even after she passes. The lessons and love he'd gained from Buffy will help him adapt and survive in that world. But he'll do it alone.
Because my Spike also is more than just A Lover of Buffy, whose single purpose in life is gone once Buffy dies. No, my Spike has many more roles. He's a warrior for Good. He lives in the world, enjoying what it has to offer. He'll make new friends in the years to come, and he'll take on new missions. He'll go through more phases and hobbies. He'll do all this with Buffy beside him because she's his partner that he's chosen to accompany him through that world, as he also accompanies her through hers.
But my Spike wouldn't abandon that world when his partner dies. He'll mourn. He'll probably drink. He'll take a while to move on. But dusting himself? No, no, no. That would be a step backward for my Spike.
Anyway, I'm back and am catching up on my flist. There's been some posts lately about Spike/Buffy and their final ending. Not the in-show ending, but the ultimate ending for the couple.
I feel compelled to weigh in.
I don't have any great expectations for Spike/Buffy late on in life. I would love to see fics with an older Buffy fighting beside her vampire partner. But, in my happy Spuffy place, they live a happy life together.
And then Buffy dies.
I can't fathom Buffy being/becoming immortal. For one, I don't think she'd choose to be immortal ever (through a claim or whatnot). She has too many attachments to the world. Dawn, Giles, the Scoobies. She wouldn't be able to detach herself from them to allow them to die around her while she continues on. And she shouldn't have to. She's earned the right to live in the world. And that includes aging and dying.
All the characters (barring the vamps) will die someday. Buffy, Willow, Giles, Dawn, Xander...all of them. It's an inevitability. They're human.
Dying of old age is really the most appropriate death for the girl who, at age 15, was destined to die the next year and then wasn't expected to live past 20. Even at the end, Buffy breaks all the rules. She's a Slayer who lives as long as she physically can until she passes away from natural old age.
While there is some appeal in Buffy going out in a blaze o' glory, old age is actually the perfect death for her story.
But what about Spike? True and devoted Spike?
My Spike is a vampire. He won't become human. He won't age with Buffy. He won't die with Buffy. He won't walk into the sun after her death.
After Drusilla, the woman he'd spent a century with, left him, Spike went on. And he surely developed by miles after that. What's to make us think Spike will fall on the metaphorical sword once Buffy dies? Would that be the best way for him to honor her memory?
I imagine this is something Buffy and Spike will discuss at some point. It's just part of the deal in a human/vamp relationship. And while Spike will definitely mourn and miss Buffy after her death, he will continue on.
By the end of the series, Spike comes to accept that there's more to life than Romantic Interest. He'll be devoted to Buffy during their years together. He'll be by her side without fail. But he will have a world outside of her, as he should. That is the world that he'll still have even after she passes. The lessons and love he'd gained from Buffy will help him adapt and survive in that world. But he'll do it alone.
Because my Spike also is more than just A Lover of Buffy, whose single purpose in life is gone once Buffy dies. No, my Spike has many more roles. He's a warrior for Good. He lives in the world, enjoying what it has to offer. He'll make new friends in the years to come, and he'll take on new missions. He'll go through more phases and hobbies. He'll do all this with Buffy beside him because she's his partner that he's chosen to accompany him through that world, as he also accompanies her through hers.
But my Spike wouldn't abandon that world when his partner dies. He'll mourn. He'll probably drink. He'll take a while to move on. But dusting himself? No, no, no. That would be a step backward for my Spike.