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snick_backupShort answer: it's in the icon. *points*
For quite a long time I was pretty sure I'd never write post-series (or post-S6, really) Spuffy. For one thing, I just plain don't like canon after S6, and I'm not committed to any particular events in it. I've gone on at length about my feelings on Spike and Spike/Buffy in S7: I'm disinterested in newly soulled Spike, particularly as written, and Buffy's actions towards him from "Touched" on just make me mad.
Second, Spike makes no sense to me in Ats S5. In Chosen he dies (which also makes me mad; it's a cheap and ineffective bit of emotional manipulation, considering he's resurrected 17 days later) and comes back with a personality transplant. It's like we're watching a fic as written by someone who never care about Spike/Buffy or Spike's arc and would rather forget they happened. (Oh, wait...) I know some folks have no trouble viewing Ats S5 Spike as being IC, but I just can't manage it. Other than a few odd moments and the brilliance of Damage, Spike bears little resemblance to the character I see in S7, and the change in company is just not sufficient explanation for me.
And finally, based on what we see of Spike and Buffy in BtVS S7, it seems to me that there's an awful lot of emotional baggage to work through before we can get to a functional relationship, possibly even more baggage than post-S6, because now the old S6 baggage is stale and buried, and Spike and Buffy can pretend it isn't there, and the new S7 baggage ("Does it have to mean anything," the tongueless kiss in End of Days, "No you don't, but thanks for saying it.) exists largely because of everything they don't say to each other. They've built an entire friend/relation/something-ship on not talking about things. That'd be a difficult obstacle to overcome, especially since by the end of Ats S5 that lack of communication has built up a fair bit of inertia. Getting them to the point of attempting a real relationship would be a major undertaking, I think, and not one I have any interest in.
But! None of this has ever stopped me from reading and enjoying post-NFA Spuffy written by other folks. I didn't quite see how they got from canon to their characterizations, but since I preferred their characterizations, I couldn't be bothered to care much. Their Spike tended to be a happy blend of S7!Spike's soulful sensitivity and Ats!Spike's recovered self-image and sense of humor; their Buffy tended to have recovered somewhat from her three seasons of wrenching angst. Both were often nearer to being whole, stable people than we ever saw in canon.
And you know what? I've decided I'm fine with that. These are not the direct extensions of Spike and Buffy as I saw them on screen, but I like these better. I'd just as well like to read stories about them as about the canon versions, and fandom has amply provided! And in fact, I think I've reached the point where I can try writing those stories myself now. I've had two big post-NFA Spuffy projects bubbling in my brain for a while, and one of these days they just might get written.
So, I'm turning in my membership card to the canon-whore club (and is there any other, less offensive term? Because I hate that one more every time I have to use it). That's what I'm saying. I've put a lot of value in canon for a long time, and when we're talking anything pre-S7 it's still what I'm all about, but I don't have to be all the time, and that's okay. Embrace the fanon!
And if the next word out of your mouth is 'claiming,' Spike will HUNT YOU DOWN and SMACK YOU WITH A SPOON. You have been warned.
For quite a long time I was pretty sure I'd never write post-series (or post-S6, really) Spuffy. For one thing, I just plain don't like canon after S6, and I'm not committed to any particular events in it. I've gone on at length about my feelings on Spike and Spike/Buffy in S7: I'm disinterested in newly soulled Spike, particularly as written, and Buffy's actions towards him from "Touched" on just make me mad.
Second, Spike makes no sense to me in Ats S5. In Chosen he dies (which also makes me mad; it's a cheap and ineffective bit of emotional manipulation, considering he's resurrected 17 days later) and comes back with a personality transplant. It's like we're watching a fic as written by someone who never care about Spike/Buffy or Spike's arc and would rather forget they happened. (Oh, wait...) I know some folks have no trouble viewing Ats S5 Spike as being IC, but I just can't manage it. Other than a few odd moments and the brilliance of Damage, Spike bears little resemblance to the character I see in S7, and the change in company is just not sufficient explanation for me.
And finally, based on what we see of Spike and Buffy in BtVS S7, it seems to me that there's an awful lot of emotional baggage to work through before we can get to a functional relationship, possibly even more baggage than post-S6, because now the old S6 baggage is stale and buried, and Spike and Buffy can pretend it isn't there, and the new S7 baggage ("Does it have to mean anything," the tongueless kiss in End of Days, "No you don't, but thanks for saying it.) exists largely because of everything they don't say to each other. They've built an entire friend/relation/something-ship on not talking about things. That'd be a difficult obstacle to overcome, especially since by the end of Ats S5 that lack of communication has built up a fair bit of inertia. Getting them to the point of attempting a real relationship would be a major undertaking, I think, and not one I have any interest in.
But! None of this has ever stopped me from reading and enjoying post-NFA Spuffy written by other folks. I didn't quite see how they got from canon to their characterizations, but since I preferred their characterizations, I couldn't be bothered to care much. Their Spike tended to be a happy blend of S7!Spike's soulful sensitivity and Ats!Spike's recovered self-image and sense of humor; their Buffy tended to have recovered somewhat from her three seasons of wrenching angst. Both were often nearer to being whole, stable people than we ever saw in canon.
And you know what? I've decided I'm fine with that. These are not the direct extensions of Spike and Buffy as I saw them on screen, but I like these better. I'd just as well like to read stories about them as about the canon versions, and fandom has amply provided! And in fact, I think I've reached the point where I can try writing those stories myself now. I've had two big post-NFA Spuffy projects bubbling in my brain for a while, and one of these days they just might get written.
So, I'm turning in my membership card to the canon-whore club (and is there any other, less offensive term? Because I hate that one more every time I have to use it). That's what I'm saying. I've put a lot of value in canon for a long time, and when we're talking anything pre-S7 it's still what I'm all about, but I don't have to be all the time, and that's okay. Embrace the fanon!
And if the next word out of your mouth is 'claiming,' Spike will HUNT YOU DOWN and SMACK YOU WITH A SPOON. You have been warned.
