Question for Spuffy Fans

[gryfndor_godess]

I typically don’t stray outside Spuffy fandom on LJ, but the impression I’ve gotten over the past few months (and it could be wrong) is that S8- and let’s face it, mostly #39-40, ‘cause they were fine with the spacefrak- caused many Bangel fans disavow the comics, change their tune on the comics’ canonicity, or simply lose interest in the ship and series because they were so disgusted. It also seems as though even fans who didn’t like the comics to begin with have been turned off of fandom.

I don’t expect Spuffy to end up happily ever after.  However, I also can't imagine Buffy and Spike ever fading into a lukewarm, 100% platonic relationship.  So that begs the question, what will Joss do to ensure that they cannot be happy together?  Knowing the way Joss’s twisted little mind works, part of me thinks he’ll set up Spuffy on a grand scale only to knock it down in a horrible fashion, a la Twangel, so as to put both ships on even, scorched earth. Frankly, I’m not sure that Joss could ever do anything to destroy Spuffy as thoroughly as Bangel has been destroyed because Spike and Buffy have already dragged each other to hell and back. Barring Spike killing Dawn or actually raping Buffy, I’m not sure what he could do that would betray Buffy as much as Angel betrayed her (although I’ve probably jinxed it now that I’ve said that).

In any case, let’s suppose that Joss does his worst and ruins Spuffy as horribly as Bangel has been ruined- that Spike betrays Buffy as badly as Angel did. My question is, how would you, as a Spuffy fan, react? Would you be able to stay in fandom as usual and love Spuffy- TV Spuffy, S8 Spuffy, your own version of Spuffy, etc.- as whole-heartedly as ever? Would you be able to ignore the comics? Or would you be so disgusted that it would tarnish your love for any kind of Spuffy and make you want to leave fandom?

I’m not certain what effect it would have on me, but I think my Spuffy love would survive the trauma. Barring a miracle movie or show with all the actors, for me, canon will always have ended with NFA; so while I enjoyed the lovely Spuffy bits in S8, I wasn't and still am not heavily invested in the comics. However, I know there are Spuffy fans who take the comics a heck of a lot more seriously.

In conclusion, thoughts please: Whether you’re a fan of the comics or not, would a Spuffy implosion of Twangel proportions in the comics hurt your love? How do you think it would affect our awesome corner of fandom?

Comments

[snickfic]

I don't think I personally would care that much; I already hat S8 in general so much that I can think of very few things they could do that would make me hate the comics more. (In fact, I can think of precisely two: kill Spike, and kill Dawn.) Heck, they killed off Giles and I barely blinked, even though I fell in love with the Faith/Giles ship specifically through the comics. (The one good thing to come out of them, as far as I'm concerned.)

That said, if the comics did awful, awful things to Spuffy (or more awful, anyway; I strongly dislike Spuffy as it stands in the comics now), I expect the fannish implosion to follow would be pretty awful. I was just thinking the other day how wonderfully peaceful it was around these parts, with no comics-related discussion. I really just wish they would never come back

(However: both LJ and DW now have options to opt in/out of viewing various of your friends' tags on your flist. If I'm meticulous about it, I might be able to just never seen comics discussion on my flist again. \o/ )

[gryfndor-godess.livejournal.com]

I would be upset if they killed Spike. I would have been upset if they killed Dawn in S7, but I don't think I would care in the comics b/c I'm just too apathetic about everyone- i.e., in my head comics!Dawn isn't the *real* Dawn, so it doesn't matter if she dies. Ditto on Giles. I was actually a little vindictively happy about his death b/c he annoyed me so much in S6 and S7.

I expect the fannish implosion to follow would be pretty awful.

:/ I worry that it would be like the schism caused by the soul post-"Grave." Not that I was in fandom when it happened, but I know it sent some fans packing for good. I would hate to see everyone here as embittered as the Bangel fans have become.

how wonderfully peaceful it was around these parts, with no comics-related discussion.

Yeah. Part of me is excited to see where the story heads next (and then I remind that excited part that Spuffy is not going to end well), but I get exhausted just thinking about the issue-to-issue brouhaha and all the speculation. *Sigh*

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

I was actually a little vindictively happy about his death b/c he annoyed me so much in S6 and S7.



OH HAI ARE YOU ME?

But seriously--I loved Giles so very much before those seasons, but after that, I'm always slightly bitter towards him even when watching the early stuff.

[gryfndor-godess.livejournal.com]

Glad I'm not the only one. Although I may be the only one on also despising him in Villains-Grave. Most people love "I'd like to test that theory." It makes me want to hit him over the head with Olaf's hammer that after shirking his responsibilities all season, he comes back to "save the day" in a horribly patriarchal "I'll-dispose-of-the-crazy-woman" fashion.

Word on his later actions making me bitter in early seasons, too. It upsets me to see Buffy's faith in him and to know it's kind of misplaced.

[norwie2010.livejournal.com]

Word!

(And, well. In season 7 Buffy kinda tells him to shove it.)

[gryfndor-godess.livejournal.com]

Buffy standing up to him in S7 makes me cheer, but it irks me that she still never explicitly rebukes him for abandoning her- I loathe how she actually condones it at the end of S6; it seems like such a self-insert on the writers' part.