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happy endings
Someone, recently, was commenting on the Buffy/Spike comic cover that was released – you know, the one with them fighting back-to-back. And they pointed out that, in fact, none of the Dark Horse people thought it was a shippy cover, because they didn’t realise that Buffy and Spike fighting back-to-back is incredibly shippy from a Spuffyish perspective.
In fact, a shippy Bangel cover is going to look very different from a shippy Spuffy cover, just because the two groups of fans have very different ideas about what a happy outcome is.
Which is all a long, roundabout way of saying that I’ve been thinking about what happy endings I’d want for each character…
Buffy:
- ends up in a relationship with someone (although not Angel)
- goes shopping for clothes and tacky souvenirs
- is also in charge of the Slayers – because she finally doesn’t have to choose between slayage and shopping expeditions
Angel:
- doesn’t end up in a relationship with anyone
- instead, drops in on all the Scoobies from time to time, and makes broody jokes that they only get a few hours after he’s left
- gets to watch Connor grow up
Spike:
- either dies in a blaze of spectacular fighting glory, or ends up with Buffy
- spends a lot of time hanging out with Dawn and trying to beat her at poker
- also makes fun of Buffy’s constant glaring at and subtle threatening of all Dawn’s boyfriends
Dawn:
- becomes a brilliant Watcher
- has a run of incredibly cool boyfriends, and then decides to go out with Andrew instead
- lives in Boston
Faith:
- ends up as joint head of the Slayers, at Buffy’s request (protesting this decision constantly, and making repeated attempts to step down)
- probably ends up single (but I’m not entirely sure)
- develops a secret passion for museums, but tries not to let anyone know, in case it hurts her cred
In fact, a shippy Bangel cover is going to look very different from a shippy Spuffy cover, just because the two groups of fans have very different ideas about what a happy outcome is.
Which is all a long, roundabout way of saying that I’ve been thinking about what happy endings I’d want for each character…
Buffy:
- ends up in a relationship with someone (although not Angel)
- goes shopping for clothes and tacky souvenirs
- is also in charge of the Slayers – because she finally doesn’t have to choose between slayage and shopping expeditions
Angel:
- doesn’t end up in a relationship with anyone
- instead, drops in on all the Scoobies from time to time, and makes broody jokes that they only get a few hours after he’s left
- gets to watch Connor grow up
Spike:
- either dies in a blaze of spectacular fighting glory, or ends up with Buffy
- spends a lot of time hanging out with Dawn and trying to beat her at poker
- also makes fun of Buffy’s constant glaring at and subtle threatening of all Dawn’s boyfriends
Dawn:
- becomes a brilliant Watcher
- has a run of incredibly cool boyfriends, and then decides to go out with Andrew instead
- lives in Boston
Faith:
- ends up as joint head of the Slayers, at Buffy’s request (protesting this decision constantly, and making repeated attempts to step down)
- probably ends up single (but I’m not entirely sure)
- develops a secret passion for museums, but tries not to let anyone know, in case it hurts her cred
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In fact, a shippy Bangel cover is going to look very different from a shippy Spuffy cover, just because the two groups of fans have very different ideas about what a happy outcome is.
THIS SOUNDS LIKE ME. :P
Here's my wishes for Buffy: That she's happy. Genuinely happy. That she's in a relationship with someone that doesn't define her, but allows her to be her best self, to be her true self. I want her to find the safe space to let her heart be open again. Please, be healed, Buffy. I love you and your pain is killing me.
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Agreed. Definitely agreed.
That's one of the reasons I'm a Spuffy shipper - because I think Spike is the most likely option of "people who will let Buffy be her". (Although I have two backup options.)
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Angel and Xander have ~ideas~ about who Buffy is supposed to be and it changes her, puts pressure on her.
There's this happy future that I imagine for her and the only person she's ever been with that I can see fitting is Spike.
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*wants to know backup options*
Um, Oz?
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(Fic-wise? I've paired her with 4 different people, in all. And only one of them doesn't make my list...)
Err - barring the Immortal, who she broke up with mid-fic, and Riley, who asked her out in the background of a fic, that is...
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It's the kind of wrong that's right. PLEASE FANDOM, WRITE MORE BUFFY/OZ FOR ME. I'M BEGGING YOU. SNICK!
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I just got home from work and apparently my rambling button is stuck in the "on" position. Expect irreverency.
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You're going to make me go look at your fic catalogue, aren't you? Drat.
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Yeah, when Buffy's not available (busy, down or dead), Spike gets shipped with Oz instead.
η
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YOU ARE KILLING ME. KILLING ME DEAD.
OH BUFFY.
*sobs*
I've said this before and I'll say it again: this is why I sort of hate the very idea of the comics. Because when Buffy's ending is her standing on the edge of that crater smiling, that's all the hope I need to think that she'll be happy and healed eventually. And then the comics show her being hurt again! I can't handle it!
I need to write more happy post-NFA Spuffy now.
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This is always the answer!
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(OK, in my ideal world I would replace Andrew with... well, just about anyone (Sorry! I can only take him in very small doses.))
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Gabrielle
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Buffy/souvenirs! It's the ultimate pairing!
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Gabrielle
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Well, I'm not sure about Dawn/Andrew... I don't unship (unship? Sure) them, but neither do I particularly ship them.
Oh, I see Faith in a series of relatively short relationships, though not necessarily one-night stands. Unless she's with Buffy -- if that were to happen, it would have to last.
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I think mainly because it's a town I think of as
a) intellectual
b) old
c) American
That combination just works as a place for Dawn to live.
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In my canon, I usually have her in London or Oxford, for similar reasons (sans the American one, obviously).
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I'm bored right now, and a TV series about the slayer school with grown up Dawn in a role like Connie Britton's on FNL appeals to me, perhaps with other Scooby cameos as instructors?
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WRITE IT! WRITE IT!
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I love this idea.
Also Dawn = Tami Taylor = awesome.
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I'm not sure who she would end up with though, but definitely not Robin and probably not Angel. Robin and his mommy issues don't work out given that Faith isn't exactly maternal, and their prior breakup doesn't help. I ship Angel/Faith as friends, and perhaps temporary bed-buddies, but not long-term.
I'm sure my opinion on Buffy is controversial given the prevalence of Bangels and Spuffies, but I don't see her ending up with either Angel or Spike. I agree with the general idea in "The Girl in Question" that it was time for all three to move on. Angel and Spike will always have a place in Buffy's heart and vice versa, but her relationships need to enhance her, not define and consume her identity. Buffy needs to be whoever she wants to be, Chosen One and all.
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Really? Those stories have always struck me as being Faith/Giles shippy to an astonishing extent.
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Still, the Part VI alternate cover and Giles's comment did reference a Steed/Peel partnership, which was (afaik) not characterized by sexual tension, unlike Steed's previous partner Gale. Faith also compared Giles's mannerisms to that of an uncle.
Altogether, I guess either interpretation is reasonable.
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I like Faith/Giles, but I don't think I like it to the exclusion of Faith by herself/having adventures. Hmmm. Now I am all thoughtful-like.
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- doesn’t end up in a relationship with anyone
Okay, my thing with Angel: comes directly from an exchange in The Wedding Singer. No, really:
(paraphrasing here)
Julia (Drew Barrymore): Sometimes I think I'm meant to roam the world alone.
Robbie (Adam Sandler): Like The Incredible Hulk?
This is how I see Angel: roaming the world, righting wrongs, listening to Mannilow, and keeping close tabs on his son, but ultimately being alone. The only person I could have seen him with long-term was Cordy (because Cordy snaps him out of his broody bullshit, while being around Buffy encouages it - and once again I ask if the writers of Season 8 ever saw any of AtS? That Angel? Totally different, mostly decent guy (and me calling him decent is a big deal for me) Broody McBrooderson in a mask has jack shit to do with AtS Angel), and with Cordy gone (dear god, I hope the move to DH means they can bring Cordy back!), I can't see him in any long term, deep relationship with anyone, and his long-term relationship with Connor is loving yet rocky, so the hulking forehead might as well paint himself green (nice tribute to Lorne in that) and make himself the Hulk for realz.
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I liked his relationship with Nina - but mostly because it was temporary (and really, both of them kinda knew that going in). Long term, he could work with Darla (dead) or Cordy (also dead), but I actually think it would be a happier ending for him to end up by himself. By himself - but still having a bunch of friends he sees occasionally, and, of course, Connor.
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*nods a lot* It's like
If I started drawing a comparison of the Buffy/Angel and the Buffy/Spike relationships, I'd go on forever, but in all honesty, I don't know that there's anything to be gained by it. I've seen so many discussions of which of the two Buffy loved more, but I don't know that we love in amounts. We love in ways.
Besides, I suspect Buffy/Angel shippers either have a different concept of love to mine, or a different concept of what they want from a fictional love story. I can't argue with that.
All I can say is when I think of some of the key scenes each of them share, I think of them this way.
When I think of Buffy and Angel, they are always standing opposite one another, face-to-face. They are looking only at each other, caught in the moment, still, timeless, static.
When I think of Buffy and Spike, most often they are side by side. I think of the back doorstep in Fool For Love, in Flooded, the moment he sits down beside her in Touched, the night he holds her while she lies awake in Chosen.
That says it all for me.
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(Using my Riley icon, since I don't have B/A one that shows the height difference. Don't have a B/A icon at all, actually.)
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Is it telling that one of my favorite love quotes is, "love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction"? Buffy and Spike do a lot of looking outward together.
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I very much agree on the shipping cover issue. And on the whole I think the most effective way to kill Spike/Buffy for Spuffies would be to make it like Bangel. Without the snark and the sizzle but destined instead.
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THIS IS VERY VERY INTERESTING.
I WANT TO TALK ABOUT HOW PICTURES AND STANCES ETC ETC RELATE TO SHIPPING AND CHEMISTRY.
BECAUSE YOU KNOW HOW OBSESSED I AM WITH DISSECTING ALL THAT STUFF.
MORE META. MOOOOOOOOOOOORE.
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- becomes a brilliant Watcher
- has a run of incredibly cool boyfriends, and then decides to go out with Andrew instead
- lives in Boston
I like this scenario. This scenario ought to happen. Yep.
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