Spike Fanfic Pondering
Apr. 3rd, 2006 01:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shipperxJust going through my community list (and browsing a few other fanfic community lists), and I'm wondering... are Spuffy-fics either a dying breed or is the Spuffy fanfic community rather insular? I ask this because, while I still see Spuffy show up occasionally on one general BtVS/AtS fanfic list, it's in the minority. Most of the Spuffy fics which pop up are on Spuffy fic lists (and I'm on one Spuffy fic lists that rarely has anything pop up.) However when paging through the fanfic communities that I belong to (and browsing a few others), Spuffy is definitely a minority these days. There was one list where I went back more than a month and the only things rec'd were Buffy/Angel and Spike/Angel fics. There are usually many Spike/Angel fics and Spike/Xander fics. And, as I said, you still see Buffy/Angel.
I'm just wondering, is that just because I don't belong to that many groups or is it actually a case that while Buffy/Angel fic writing continues, a large percentage of Spike fanfic writers either always wrote slash and not Spuffy or have begun writing slash? Is this perception in error? And if it is so (not that I'm saying that's the case, just wondering whether it is), why exactly did Spuffy go passe while B/A fanfic writing cotinues?
Or is it just a mislead entirely and there are actually plenty of Spuffy fics. I see plenty posted on one of my Spuffy lists... but that's a Spuffy list. This sort of begs the question of why are Spuffy fics on Spuffy lists but not gen lists? Have Spuffies just continued the tradition started in Season 5 where general fandom became such a hostile hassel that Redemptionists and Spuffies ceased to bother and just created their own communities? Are Spuffies simply choosing to stay among themselves? Or is it a case where Spuffies feel like the more gen lists might still be hostile? Is it somehow perceived as more fandom-wide acceptable to ship Spike/Angel rather than Buffy/Spike? There's plenty of Spike/Angel on the gen lists, so it's not like the character of Spike is underepresented. So why is slashing Spike prevalent on the BtVS lists but het is rare? Is it the ship or the characterization of Spike? Are these perhaps more of an evilista Spike rather than a redemptionist Spike? (I'm seriously asking. I actually read only a few fics and usually by authors I recognize so I by no means feel that I have adequate sampling of these other fics to make any statement as to their characterization of Spike. I don't have a feel for the characterization in the majority of those fics. I genuinely do not know).
I'm not postulating any specific cause/effect (or even that the perceived effect is real in the first place) so much as simply asking questions.
My observation about the gen lists are completely anecdotal, so I'm not saying my perception is accurate in the first place. I'm just wondering about other's impressions. Am I wandering around in far left field here? Have I misread the circumstances (re: Spuffy and BtVS lists)? Does that perceived number of Spuffy fics represented on the wider fandom lists actually seem lower than that of pairings such as S/A, X/S, or B/A? If it does (and I'm leaving it as if) what -- of many, many possible causes -- is the reason for it? Thoughts? Observations? Anything?
(ETA: And on a totally unrelated to Spike topic, as it refers to something I read on Fandom_Wank... can someone explain to me why there exists slash where the guy grows a vagina? I can get slash as a genre. And not a damn thing is wrong with loving two male characters and wanting them to have sex. But my brain sort of sputters into "huh?" mode when someone wants to write slash but turns one of the male characters into having female genetalia and... uh... it just confuses me is all. And, is that still slash if one of the men is a woman? Or is it just really, really screwed-up het? I'm confuzzled!)
I'm just wondering, is that just because I don't belong to that many groups or is it actually a case that while Buffy/Angel fic writing continues, a large percentage of Spike fanfic writers either always wrote slash and not Spuffy or have begun writing slash? Is this perception in error? And if it is so (not that I'm saying that's the case, just wondering whether it is), why exactly did Spuffy go passe while B/A fanfic writing cotinues?
Or is it just a mislead entirely and there are actually plenty of Spuffy fics. I see plenty posted on one of my Spuffy lists... but that's a Spuffy list. This sort of begs the question of why are Spuffy fics on Spuffy lists but not gen lists? Have Spuffies just continued the tradition started in Season 5 where general fandom became such a hostile hassel that Redemptionists and Spuffies ceased to bother and just created their own communities? Are Spuffies simply choosing to stay among themselves? Or is it a case where Spuffies feel like the more gen lists might still be hostile? Is it somehow perceived as more fandom-wide acceptable to ship Spike/Angel rather than Buffy/Spike? There's plenty of Spike/Angel on the gen lists, so it's not like the character of Spike is underepresented. So why is slashing Spike prevalent on the BtVS lists but het is rare? Is it the ship or the characterization of Spike? Are these perhaps more of an evilista Spike rather than a redemptionist Spike? (I'm seriously asking. I actually read only a few fics and usually by authors I recognize so I by no means feel that I have adequate sampling of these other fics to make any statement as to their characterization of Spike. I don't have a feel for the characterization in the majority of those fics. I genuinely do not know).
I'm not postulating any specific cause/effect (or even that the perceived effect is real in the first place) so much as simply asking questions.
My observation about the gen lists are completely anecdotal, so I'm not saying my perception is accurate in the first place. I'm just wondering about other's impressions. Am I wandering around in far left field here? Have I misread the circumstances (re: Spuffy and BtVS lists)? Does that perceived number of Spuffy fics represented on the wider fandom lists actually seem lower than that of pairings such as S/A, X/S, or B/A? If it does (and I'm leaving it as if) what -- of many, many possible causes -- is the reason for it? Thoughts? Observations? Anything?
(ETA: And on a totally unrelated to Spike topic, as it refers to something I read on Fandom_Wank... can someone explain to me why there exists slash where the guy grows a vagina? I can get slash as a genre. And not a damn thing is wrong with loving two male characters and wanting them to have sex. But my brain sort of sputters into "huh?" mode when someone wants to write slash but turns one of the male characters into having female genetalia and... uh... it just confuses me is all. And, is that still slash if one of the men is a woman? Or is it just really, really screwed-up het? I'm confuzzled!)
