BSV Forum - General - The Bloodshedpub

Cas

Oct 11 2006 03:23 am   #1Guest

Why Buffy and Spike?  What attracted you/ keeps you interested in this pair?

Oct 11 2006 03:28 am   #2Guest
Cas

Within the context of canon, they do seem to go through the gamut of emotions.  Spike especially is a very complex character, and has so many sides he's fun to work with.  I don't like Buffy nearly as well, and am much less sympathetic to her in my writing, but she is easy to write - just be a biatch and you've probably hit it right.

Oct 11 2006 03:44 am   #3slaymesoftly

Oh boy - great question!  I guess, partly because I didn't watch the shows in the order in which they ran until mid-way through, I didn't get into B/A very much. And I loved Spike, right from the get go.  Although the idea of Spike and Buffy had to grow on me.  While Riley eventually turned into a complete insecure jerk, I actually was happy that Buffy had found herself a nice guy until Spike started taking care of Dawn and Joyce and then had his dream. Then it was no contest. LOL  What attracted me was the chemistry between them. Credit James and Sarah for making it so real.  What keeps me interested? That it is so real. It's not a teen-age crush, or a drama-queen star-crossed-lovers angst fest.  It's a relationship between two people who are so much alike in some ways that they are their own worst enemies.  Because of the physical attraction, and the passions (hate and love are sometimes pretty closely related. lol) they evoke in each other, it's easy to picture them getting together in earlier seasons.  And, once we get to season V, where Spike realizes his feelings and begins to change his behavior, it's hard not to want it to work.  I started writing primarily to get Season VI Buffy to snap out of it and see what she had. LOL  So far, I'm still working on that....

I am not a minion of Evil...
I am upper management.
Oct 11 2006 03:52 am   #4slaymesoftly

That's an interesting observation, Cas.  I also think Spike is an amazingly complex character - which I think is why he interests so many people (well, that and James' cheekbones, abs, chest, arms...sorry! mind wandered there.lol) and when I began writing, I thought I was going to be writing about Spike - totally from his pov.  To my surprise, I found that I was doing everything from Buffy's pov.  I never disliked her.  She was a bitch to Spike often - but her life really sucked once she was called and I usually felt more sorry for her than not.  I love Spike, but I guess I identified with Buffy.

I am not a minion of Evil...
I am upper management.
Oct 11 2006 03:59 am   #5Guest
Cas

Sorry I posted the thread wrong and now don't know how to fix it!

 

 

Oct 11 2006 04:01 am   #6ZoeGrace

hehe patti.

they are a captivating pair and seem to have what all good potential romances have, a lot of sexual tension.  Even very early on way back in season 2 there was almost a sexual vibe between them.  I don't know what is so thrilling about two super beings intent on trying to kill each other that we just want them to stop trying to kill each other and get together.

But Spike rocks.  His character encapsulates what a lot of women consider the image of their dream guy.  A warrior poet.  A guy who is tough, with a few rough/dangerous edges, but who's still caring and loyal and feels deeply.

I often didn't like Buffy cause she was so awful to Spike but I like Spuffy the best for some reason, maybe it's because Spike loved her so much and they really did have great chemistry.  I think a lot of it though is because...Spike isn't just Buffy's equal in every way.  Buffy is Spike's.  While I'll happily pimp Spike out to just about anyone, and have enjoyed many other Spike pairings, ultimately, despite her bitchines and in some ways unworthiness...she IS his equal and when it DOES work between them, it's fabulous.  Maybe better than if he was in a perfect relationship with anyone else.

Also they're both very funny at times.  And I think sense of humor is very sexy.

Oct 11 2006 04:10 am   #7Guest
Cas

I like the way that the relationship evolves over time, and they still don't seem to be able to get it right by the end of AtS.  Seems like it should work so well for them, but then, it just doesn't.  And isn't it amazing how often they got James shirtless on one pretext or another?

Oct 11 2006 05:50 am   #8Niamh

 A warrior poet

That's how I've always seen him.  And well, that's why I wrote him.  Because he's not just a neanderthal -- he's not just a mindless vampire -- despite his boasting about that.  He's got depth, layers.  Hell, he's an onion parfait.

 

Oct 11 2006 06:04 am   #9Niamh

Now for something completely different.   My serious answer.

Why Spike and Buffy?

Because Spike is infinitely more interesting than Riley, scads more interesting than Angel.  Because he is, as I quoted before -- a warrior poet.  Because he refuses to die, refuses to bow and refuses to be ignored.

Because Buffy is so tragically vulnerable and, despite her strength, she is a very frightened little girl, who wants nothing more than to be helped -- not saved, not rescued -- but helped.

And why?

Because together they are greater than the sum of their parts.  Because they defy logic and reason, because they are real. 

Because he is the Beast to her Beauty -- and not the Disney version -- the real version.  He is the Beast tamed to her hand and no other, transforming himself to be everything she needs and wants so that she will love him, despite the fact he a monster and will always be a monster -- but he's her monster.  And because she is the Beauty who wants love so badly, but is afraid of the very thng she needs.  So she hides behind what she is, refusing to show anyone her real, true self, until the Beast unmasks her.  Because she loves him for what he is and he doesn't need to change any more for her, because he never really did change.  He just allowed her to see the real man inside the Beast.  And because he saw what hid behind the beauty.

Because they are yin and yang -- half of the whole, incomplete without each other.   She carries elements of him and he carries elements of her.

Because they see each other -- they do not shy away from what the other is.  No, they embrace it and remind each other of what, and who they really are.

Because it's real.  It's messy and complicated and they've both hurt each other immeasureably (sp?)  and yet managed to still love each other -- and, in fact, had that love grow deeper.

Because in the end, I think he got the girl.  And she loved him forever.

Oct 11 2006 06:47 am   #10ZoeGrace

I like that, that buffy is tragically vulnerable.  She really is.

Oct 11 2006 01:12 pm   #11slaymesoftly

Ah, that was beautiful, Niamh - and totally true.  Summed them up perfectly.

I am not a minion of Evil...
I am upper management.
Oct 11 2006 02:28 pm   #12maryperk

I agree with Niamh.  Spot on!!  There is no way I could say it better myself.  Despite how the writers did Season 6, we all know that Buffy wasn't into casual sex.  She didn't go around having sex with everyone.  No, she picked the one person who genuinely cared for her.

Oct 11 2006 04:37 pm   #13Guest

I've waned on Spuffy, compared to how I saw it when the show was first airing...but it's still all I read for Spike pairings. I love the stories that really match them well together, but I think fanfic will forever match them better than the show ever did or would have. I have real issues with Canon Buffy now. Fic helps correct that. :) 

Oct 11 2006 06:13 pm   #14spikes_wish

because he did everything for her. Because he loved her in spite of her faults, and never left her alone, unlike *some* people. Season 7 interaction was nothing less than beautiful, and in the end he was doing the right thing *because* it was the right thing. Not to make her love him, but because his love for her had changed for her.

And in the end she loved him. And Bangel fans can f**k off because she did. She saw him, what hes going to do for not only her but for himself, and she loved him. She saw his soul, and loved it.

And their love is deeper, truer and more real than anything Buffy and Angel had.

So thats why.

spikes_wish

xxxx

Oct 12 2006 01:01 am   #15GoldenBuffy

Nia worded it beautifully.

I wanted Buffy with Spike once he came onto the show and I thought he was 100 times hotter than Angel. Plus he was real, after I took off my Bangel glasses and got to see Angel for who and what he was. I knew wasn't for Buffy. She need someone real, someone who wouldn't make her prefect and try to keep her there. And Riley, don't me wrong, I liked the guy, but he was all wrong for her.

Buffy needed an equal and so did Spike, and end the end they got it. The side trip with the Immortal was all rebound, we all know in the end Spuffy reunited.

And in the air the fireflies
Our only light in paradise
We'll show the world they were wrong
And teach them all to sing along
Oct 18 2006 07:44 pm   #16redwulf50

OK,  I hated Angel from the first show.  To me he felt fake, artificial,  something didn't ring true.  When it became obvious that he was the romantic lead... I started making excuses not to watch (Wife was the one that got me started).  

When season 2 started I was honestly hoping it would be cancelled soon because it had only one character that I liked,  Xander.  *looks around ashamed*  Then one Tuesday night I had worked late and G had recorded it,  I tried tyo get out of it, but the evil wench used the puupy dog pout, and we started watching "School Hard"  by the time it was over I had laughed till my sides hurt.  They had a villian that I could identify with,  someone real... Spike.

By season 4 G swore that Buffy and Spike were meant to be together and if the writers couldn't see that then they should stick to writing Hallmark cards.  I didn't agree cause I never realy liked Buffy, but.....

Oct 18 2006 10:44 pm   #17ZoeGrace

heheh wulfie...well, at some point, you must have decided Buffy and Spike belonged together 4ever. ;) hehehe.