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athousanderrorsvia http://ift.tt/2v7LI3R:
I had this in my askbox for AGES because I have been “vacationing” with my dad (who broke his hip a few months back and needs a lot of help, so it was a lot of work but the fulfilling kind where you’re hanging with your fave family member but also the stress of being a caregiver, you know). BUT I AM READY NOW.
So as a preface, I have chosen to ignore the rape plotline from Buffy/Spike because I think it was an incredibly poor choice on Joss’s part and it was specifically intended to disrupt the superiority of Buffy/Spike as a ship because Joss was super uncomfortable with what he had wrought.
Basically: Buffy/Angel is s u c h a cliche. Even though the rash of vampire ~epic romances seemed to come after BtVS (as in, it would be easy to assume causality BUT RESIST THAT URGE), the whole thing just reeks of the toxic heteronormative shit other vampire romances (COUGH Twilight COUGH) are guilty of. It’s got the same building blocks: teenage girl and MUCH older dude, older dude grooms teenager to be his ~savior, older dude hurts/abuses teenager when she allows herself too much physical pleasure (SEX, JOSS, IT’S ALLOWED, JESUS H FRICKING CHRIST), all the rhetoric of ~one true love but she’s (I REPEAT) a teenager. Super toxic shit. Do NOT listen to Joss on this one. And the fact that Xander’s presented as the non-toxic alternative in the early seasons is just fuel to the toxic fire. They’re ALL bad for Buffy. It’s a bad message for teenage girls about their sexuality.
But Spike/Buffy? That relationship is grounded in Buffy’s pursuit of her own physical pleasure and uncomplicated enjoyment. She pursues Spike in the Kirk style: because he’s willing and she’s wanting. They are enthusiastically consenting adults pursuing a physical relationship. The physicality evolves over time into an intimacy that is bound by Spike’s independent self-improvement. He aims to be better because of his involvement with her, he does not expect (or pressure her) to be his redemption. I loved the fact that his soul quest happened without Buffy. He pursued self-improvement because he had discovered the benefits of the new lifestyle, not because she had to save him.
Plus, Spike’s love of Buffy is entirely disconnected from demanding things from her, as we see in the finale of the show. He does not expect even a return of his affections, it’s enough to love her and improve himself towards a new ideal.
Buffy is a hero. She’s busy.
This girl has no time to be running around making men into her equals (which, btw, is also the narrative that the Riley/Buffy story followed). Spike does not require that of her. He is devoted to her. She, as the hero of the narrative (like so many epic male narratives before her but so few ones with a female center), has bigger conceptual and narrative things to worry about. Spike is the Penelope to her Odysseus.
(Your picture was not posted)
I had this in my askbox for AGES because I have been “vacationing” with my dad (who broke his hip a few months back and needs a lot of help, so it was a lot of work but the fulfilling kind where you’re hanging with your fave family member but also the stress of being a caregiver, you know). BUT I AM READY NOW.
So as a preface, I have chosen to ignore the rape plotline from Buffy/Spike because I think it was an incredibly poor choice on Joss’s part and it was specifically intended to disrupt the superiority of Buffy/Spike as a ship because Joss was super uncomfortable with what he had wrought.
Basically: Buffy/Angel is s u c h a cliche. Even though the rash of vampire ~epic romances seemed to come after BtVS (as in, it would be easy to assume causality BUT RESIST THAT URGE), the whole thing just reeks of the toxic heteronormative shit other vampire romances (COUGH Twilight COUGH) are guilty of. It’s got the same building blocks: teenage girl and MUCH older dude, older dude grooms teenager to be his ~savior, older dude hurts/abuses teenager when she allows herself too much physical pleasure (SEX, JOSS, IT’S ALLOWED, JESUS H FRICKING CHRIST), all the rhetoric of ~one true love but she’s (I REPEAT) a teenager. Super toxic shit. Do NOT listen to Joss on this one. And the fact that Xander’s presented as the non-toxic alternative in the early seasons is just fuel to the toxic fire. They’re ALL bad for Buffy. It’s a bad message for teenage girls about their sexuality.
But Spike/Buffy? That relationship is grounded in Buffy’s pursuit of her own physical pleasure and uncomplicated enjoyment. She pursues Spike in the Kirk style: because he’s willing and she’s wanting. They are enthusiastically consenting adults pursuing a physical relationship. The physicality evolves over time into an intimacy that is bound by Spike’s independent self-improvement. He aims to be better because of his involvement with her, he does not expect (or pressure her) to be his redemption. I loved the fact that his soul quest happened without Buffy. He pursued self-improvement because he had discovered the benefits of the new lifestyle, not because she had to save him.
Plus, Spike’s love of Buffy is entirely disconnected from demanding things from her, as we see in the finale of the show. He does not expect even a return of his affections, it’s enough to love her and improve himself towards a new ideal.
Buffy is a hero. She’s busy.
This girl has no time to be running around making men into her equals (which, btw, is also the narrative that the Riley/Buffy story followed). Spike does not require that of her. He is devoted to her. She, as the hero of the narrative (like so many epic male narratives before her but so few ones with a female center), has bigger conceptual and narrative things to worry about. Spike is the Penelope to her Odysseus.
(Your picture was not posted)
