More pimp! (and another meme...)

[elisi]

A couple of good posts that you should check out:

molly_may has written an excellent review of Hells' Bells. A lot of great thoughts on Xander in particular.

yourlibrarian wrote intriguingly about Spander. As someone who won't touch that ship with a bargepole, I found it an interesting analysis.

And because I'm hot and bored I did the clique meme:

I am a member of 4 cliques of size 10

• sdwolfpup, the_royal_anna, fer1213, marsterslady, poisonapple73, sweet_ali, elisi, molly_may, cindermom, _jems_


• pfeifferpack, hobbituk, jenjojen, bogwitch, ladywenham, elisi, theohara, liliaeth, speakr2customrs, petzipellepingo


• buttersideup, sdwolfpup, the_royal_anna, fer1213, mgal, skylee, marsterslady, sweet_ali, elisi, molly_may


• buttersideup, the_royal_anna, fer1213, mgal, swsa, skylee, marsterslady, sweet_ali, elisi, molly_may

Find the largest clique containing:

(Enter your livejournal username here).

Comments

[frimfram.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link to the Spander article - it was quite convincing, but a little depressing! I can see how Harmony and Anya are 'losers in love.' But one of the things fanfic can do is change characters' destinies, and I'd love to read some stories where one of them gets a shot at a decent relationship.

speakr2customrs gives Harmony a happy ending, at least, in the hysterical The Good, The Bad, and Cordelia.

[fishsanwitt]

Thank you for both the links. I, too, do not see the joys of Spander (and by God I hate the name), but the post was *great*!

[elisi]

it was quite convincing, but a little depressing!
That's what I thought too - apart from the squick factor that I get from slash anyway (although I have read the occasional Spangel, because I adore Spike and Angel together), Spike/Xander is just too unlikely a pairing for me. It was nice to see where it comes from, though.

[elisi]

and by God I hate the name
Bwah! Me too! But it was nice to be able to find out *why* it's such a popular ship. Me, I'm just all Spuffy (although recently with a disturbing hankering for Spawn - eep!).

[fishsanwitt]

I, too, have had a craving, now and then, for Spawn. The one story I read was wesleysgirl lj story. Excellent! And since Buffy was dead, I could deal with it. I know it sounds weird, but I cannot read Spawn if Buffy is still there b/c *my* Spike wouldn't have moved on. What about you?

[elisi]

I cannot read Spawn if Buffy is still there b/c *my* Spike wouldn't have moved on.
Oh, I'm right there with you. And I found the story you mentioned just the other day (at least I presume it's the same one... Spike doesn't get his soul after SR, but just runs off, and Dawn tracks him down after Buffy dies (again)).

But I've also read poshcat's bad! wrong! kinky! Spawn stories, which are very, very, very hot and disturbing. (And dammit, they gave me the most vicious plot-bunny I've ever come across. *sigh*)

[yourlibrarian]

Thanks for rec'cing molly_may's post. Great discussion. One thing I didn't go into in my post because it seemed to be getting OT was where Xander's coming from. And reading her post made me think about how everyone always discusses Xander's fears about becoming his father. It's very understandable, but I rather wonder why there isn't more discussion about the influence of his mother. We don't know much about her either, except that she also drinks (though whether that was what brought his parents together or whether it began after their marriage is unknown), and she seems to be under her husband's thumb.

I know it's been discussed that Xander is attracted to strong women and only becomes involved with Willow once she is off with Oz. It occured to me that this is likely because he's afraid that they will allow themselves to be abused like his mother unless they are strong enough to keep him in check. And I also wonder if Xander saw Anya as being stronger than she was at first, only the longer their relationship goes on, the more aware of her vulnerability he is until he fears for her. It makes me look at his behavior with Willow in a new light. Unlike what she thought, he was attracted to her, and continued to be (as we see in "Restless.") But he was probably afraid that her love for him would allow him to victimize her. I rather wonder if maybe that's why he sabotaged his own relationship with Cordelia. But if so, he picked well. She wouldn't let him do it to her twice.

[molly_may]

::smooches you:: I should buy you a pimp hat for Christmas.;)

And I'm in three of your cliques! Yay!

[molly_may]

It's funny, I've never really thought about Xander and his relationship with his mother that much. He does seem drawn to and comfortable with strong women, but he also has a tendency to idealize them a bit, particularly Buffy who he puts on such a high pedestal that it's impossible for her not to fall off of it.

[elisi]

It occurred to me that this is likely because he's afraid that they will allow themselves to be abused like his mother unless they are strong enough to keep him in check.
Now that's a fascinating idea - especially as his 'vision' in 'Hell's Bells' end with him hitting Anya with a frying pan, possibly killing her. It would also explain his thing for slayers, because he knows they'd never end up the victim... oh, the whole AR could be examined in this light. I guess it confirmed all of Xander's prejudices about Spike.

Hmm, very interesting indeed, but I'll have to think more probably, right now I'm rather incoherent.

[elisi]

"It's good enough for Buffy!"

Possibly the best line of S6!

[elisi]

What about a pimp chain? ;)

And this clique thing is fun! ::smooches you back::

[fishsanwitt]

I've read postcat's stories and she's *evil* :) Evil, I say :) LOL!

I read *another* story where there really *is* an apocalypse and everyone dies, but Spike finds Dawn and they go on the roadtrip from hell and eventually meet up with some Scoobies who escaped. I haven't read the one you mentioned.

[elisi]

poshcat is most definitely evil. But she *does* write superb porn!

I looked up the story again. It's called Good Company and is by Wesleysgirl. Dawn is grown-up and well - there's a lot of sex! Must go do some actual work now...