My takes on Xander/Anya and Buffy/Angel (crossposted from tumblr)
roselightfairy asked: For the ask game... Xander/Anya, Buffy/Angel?
XANDER/ANYA
I ship it, though I'm not super invested in it. They can be really sweet and fun. They have their issues, but who doesn't.
What made you ship it?
I always thought they were pretty entertaining, I guess. Or, I am interested in Anya, and Anya has some incredible scenes that happen to be related to Xander.
What are your favorite things about the ship?
I like that they're down-to-earth and easygoing compared to some other major canon ships. The show allows them to have a relationship that isn't a huge deal, a big dramatic love story, at least for a while. I like that they're allowed in canon to have fun in bed, creatively even, and it's not implied that they're evil people for it.
I adore the way Anya confronts her humanity through/because of this relationship. I like that being in a relationship with Anya helps Xander grow too.
In fic, the ship can be moving and heartbreaking and, on the flip side, there's staggering comedic potential. It has the range.
Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?
I don't think either one of them was ready to get married in season 6, even if there had been no Xander-impersonating demon at the wedding? Um, not sure that was an unpopular one, let me try again.
While Xander does sometimes get snarky and patronizing about Anya's ex-demon peculiarities, I think it's understandable (in moderation!) -- nobody's patience and kindess is infinite in real life, and it’s not like his parents set a good example of what a healthy relationship looks like. Overall, it must have been helpful for Anya to get some cues from him about human life (why Anya was written as so clueless about human life is another can of worms).
Leaving Anya at the altar was obviously badly executed, terribly timed, and painful for everyone involved, but maybe a little better than going ahead with the wedding and THEN having second thoughts or huge unspoken issues.
Also, I’ve said this before, but I thought Anya's suggestion to have fun with two Xanders before merging them at the end of "The Replacement" was perfectly reasonable (though it doesn't matter, because the Xanders were uncomfortable with it).
BUFFY/ANGEL
Okay. This one's interesting. I almost ship it. That is, I would NOT say I ship it, but... *shoves multiple poems under the bed* look, it's not like I've ever felt compelled to seek out fic about them or anything... *dedicated rec list spills out of my pocket* shit, I can explain.
I used to ship Bangel because it was the major ship that canon put in front of me and, let's face it, I'm a sucker for a good bout of miserable pining. I listened to that one playlist by @womanaction A Number of Times. :)
Why don’t you ship it?
I stopped shipping it after I saw "I Will Remember You", where Angel had a chance to be with Buffy and decided against it. I'm not saying characters have to be an item in canon in order for me to be interested in them, but that's when I had a change of heart.
I've an uneasy attitude towards Angel in particular. He has qualities that I consider flaws in myself. This can make him interesting and relatable to me, but also hard to tolerate in larger quantities.
I've been around Spuffy shippers a lot, and they have pointed out to me all the drawbacks of Bangel multiple times (#notallspuffyshippers, of course). I'm sure this skews my perception somewhat. I'm not sure I want to rehash any of that.
What would have made you like it?
On the other hand, hearing people bash Bangel makes me feel like NOT outright hating the ship is cool and rebellious and mature of me as a Spuffy shipper. So in a way, the ship squabbles make me like Bangel a bit more out of spite.
I know that Angel's happiness curse is only ambiguously tied to sex, but I think there's some chance I would find Bangel enormously interesting and cute if Angel and Buffy decided to have a romantic relationship without sex. I think I might have imprinted on them for ace reasons if I’d seen this happen at the right time.
Alternatively, and this is more of a fic thing than a canon wish, *opens AO3* okay, genuine question, why are there so few Bangel stories in the Orgasm Delay/Denial tag? Buffy and Angel could have some creative fun without, ah, Angel's perfect happiness -- but of course, this is based on the simplified interpretation of perfect happiness as a pleasure moment.
I think I might also really enjoy a Buffy x Angel dynamic where they had, contrary to Spike's speech, become friends. Where the will-they-or-won't-they was no longer on the table, the way Xander gets over his romantic feelings for Buffy and keeps helping and supporting her afterwards. I might be even more into it if Angel still had a thing for Buffy but resolved to not make it her problem and channeled it into helping her unconditionally.
Ironically, I like the ship more when Angel is soulless and evil. I don't think Buffy and Angelus should, like, DATE, but I think the Angelus of BtVS s2 still has some semblance of romantic feelings for Buffy (not something we'd call love, I suppose). And he is suuuuuper messed up and conflicted about it, being a control freak whose identity depends on not pursuing this impulse. His struggles with his pesky crush are both rather relatable and enormously entertaining to me.
In theory, I might like Bangel more in the later seasons or post-series, but in practice that's when Spike is in the picture, and I have a preference.
I do like Buffy and Angel as part of a Spuffgel OT3.
I'm sure that, like with most ships ever, fic brings out the best and most fun qualities of Bangel and softens or averts its problems. There might be iterations of the ship out there that would grab my interest.
Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?
Season 2 from Surprise/Innocence onwards is exquisite drama. It wouldn't be the same without Buffy's feelings for Angel.
I think it's great that Buffy inspired Angel to strive to be better and he became someone she would be proud of, overall.
Buffy wanted to have smoochies and go on cute little dates with her vampire boyfriend, and I'm glad she could. Their ice skating date in particular was adorable.
And I wish the Bangel side of the fandom nothing but the best. I want Bangel fans to thrive and have fun, like all other fans. :)
This entry was originally posted at https://thenewbuzwuzz.dreamwidth.org/235790.html.