Spike/Buffy in S6
Apr. 11th, 2010 06:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snick_backupI guess this is part of that "big ol' S6 post" I promised. These are more observations than anything; maybe I'll have something more meaningful to say later.
- Spike spends a lot of S6 being an ass. On screen, he cares as much about getting Buffy as he does about Buffy herself.
- Buffy spends a lot of S6 being a bitch. She doesn't care about much of anything. In particular, she doesn't care that she's using and abusing a highly volatile vampire who is at the very least obsessed with her, whatever other feelings she is or isn't willing to grant him.
- All the Spikeian perceptiveness we love celebrating? Takes a walkabout in S6. He really thinks Buffy loves him, if only he can convince her of it. He hammers this line of reasoning over and over, from "Tabula Rasa" all the way through "Seeing Red," and he is disastrously wrong.
- Buffy has feelings for Spike in S6. She says so herself in the bathroom scene. I believe her. She also says they're not love, and I believe that, too. Just existing takes almost more energy than she has; she hasn't any to spare for loving someone whom she has previously viewed and who frequently is still quite unlovable.
- Spike and Buffy's sexual relationship is destructive. In S6, sex is not a fix-it or a cure-all. There's no healing cock here (even though Spike seems to think there is). As soon as they start having sex their quiet, intimate friendship from the beginning of the season is lost. There's no romance, either. She's severely depressed and he's an insecure outsider without even a soul, and between all those handicaps there just ain't a lot of hope.
- While the circumstances leading up to Spike getting his soul are unpleasant, and while I hate the results afterwards (although we'll see how I feel about this upcoming S7 rewatch), I love the fact that he goes and gets it. It's one of his defining moments as a character, IMO. Mightily muddled by all the chip-removal misdirects - Grr! - but still overwhelming and mind-boggling and all those other good adjectives.
So much for S6 Spuffy. Now that I've finally rewatched the season, I think I'm going to have a whole lot less patience with fic that tries to soften it or turn it into romance. I want fic that engages with the canon, not smooth it over into something the writer is comfortable with.
I may or may not feel up to responding to all comments on this one. Also, I'm leaving this unlocked because I'm a trusting sort, but if someone starts bashing or flaming or any other discourteous thing in my blog I will Shut. You. Down. (A vague disclaimer is nobody's friend.)
- Spike spends a lot of S6 being an ass. On screen, he cares as much about getting Buffy as he does about Buffy herself.
- Buffy spends a lot of S6 being a bitch. She doesn't care about much of anything. In particular, she doesn't care that she's using and abusing a highly volatile vampire who is at the very least obsessed with her, whatever other feelings she is or isn't willing to grant him.
- All the Spikeian perceptiveness we love celebrating? Takes a walkabout in S6. He really thinks Buffy loves him, if only he can convince her of it. He hammers this line of reasoning over and over, from "Tabula Rasa" all the way through "Seeing Red," and he is disastrously wrong.
- Buffy has feelings for Spike in S6. She says so herself in the bathroom scene. I believe her. She also says they're not love, and I believe that, too. Just existing takes almost more energy than she has; she hasn't any to spare for loving someone whom she has previously viewed and who frequently is still quite unlovable.
- Spike and Buffy's sexual relationship is destructive. In S6, sex is not a fix-it or a cure-all. There's no healing cock here (even though Spike seems to think there is). As soon as they start having sex their quiet, intimate friendship from the beginning of the season is lost. There's no romance, either. She's severely depressed and he's an insecure outsider without even a soul, and between all those handicaps there just ain't a lot of hope.
- While the circumstances leading up to Spike getting his soul are unpleasant, and while I hate the results afterwards (although we'll see how I feel about this upcoming S7 rewatch), I love the fact that he goes and gets it. It's one of his defining moments as a character, IMO. Mightily muddled by all the chip-removal misdirects - Grr! - but still overwhelming and mind-boggling and all those other good adjectives.
So much for S6 Spuffy. Now that I've finally rewatched the season, I think I'm going to have a whole lot less patience with fic that tries to soften it or turn it into romance. I want fic that engages with the canon, not smooth it over into something the writer is comfortable with.
I may or may not feel up to responding to all comments on this one. Also, I'm leaving this unlocked because I'm a trusting sort, but if someone starts bashing or flaming or any other discourteous thing in my blog I will Shut. You. Down. (A vague disclaimer is nobody's friend.)
