True Love Tuesday: Why I Ship Spike/Buffy and Faith/Angel

In October 2013, I started watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer to get myself hyped up for Halloween. Since all 7 seasons were available on Netflix, I went through all 7 seasons in a matter of 5 months.

At first, I liked the Buffy/Angel relationship. I thought it was cute. I also loved Spike as a villain and I loved him with Drusilla. I was fairly certain that I would ship Bangel given how much Buffy loved him. And I still like Angel’s character to this day, but when he became Angelus, it was basically the most emotionally driven story arc I’ve ever seen next to Seasons 5.

Then everything changed when I started watching Season 3. It kept showing just why Buffy and Angel could never work in the long run. She is desperate to hold onto him while he keeps her at a constant distance, knowing the consequences of what happened in Season 2. It culminates with Buffy forcing Angel to feed on her and it shows that that is the closest thing the two of them get to having sex without Angel losing his soul.

As I said, I love Angel as a character, but what irks me about him is that his brooding demeanor. He has a reason to brood, obviously, but that kind of attitude is all wrong for Buffy. So when Faith came around in Season 3 and tried hitting on Angel, I was actually intrigued. When I watched the episodes where Faith appeared in Angel, I was even more certain that they would be better together.

Faith and Angel are birds of a feather. Both of them have seen the darker side of life and are working towards bettering themselves as people. However, Faith can bring something to Angel’s life that Buffy can’t: a wild, rambunctious spirit that can lift Angel out of the dumps and a more direct approach to life. Even if Faith and Angel had sex and Angel would lose his soul, they’d still work together and become the hottest evil couple ever. In an AU where evil rules the world, Faith would be a hardened vigilante who plays by her own rules and Angelus would encourage her to embrace the darkness she loves.

So where does that leave Buffy? Should she be with Riley? Uh, no. Riley is boring and a total hypocrite. Intimidated by Buffy because she’s stronger than him and then he goes and marries someone that can fight alongside him? Someone beat him over the head with a shovel. Repeatedly. Until he dies.

No. I ship Buffy with Spike. It started in Season 4’s “Something Blue.” The intent of the episode was supposed to show how ridiculous the Spike/Buffy relationship. Instead, I loved the idea of it. I literally went from “I know they’re under the influence of a spell, but this is so cute” to “Get a room already!” in the span of one episode. Then as soon as it was established that Spike was falling for Buffy in Season 5, I wanted Riley out of the picture way earlier than when he left and for Spike and Buffy to start hooking up. I ship them so hard, that I’ve started writing fanfiction about them. And I haven’t posted anything on fanfiction.net in years.

Why? Because again, it’s about bringing out what the other person needs. Buffy needs someone who brings fire into her life. Spike’s devil-may-care attitude combined with a softer, romantic side is perfect for Buffy who has a bad tendency to close off her emotions. It’s shown that the two of them work wonderfully together in the Becoming 2-Parter. He also gets along with her mom and when Dawn enters the picture, Spike is the one who acts as Dawn’s confidante and protector. Need we bring up the events “Intervention” (stupid BuffyBot aside)?

Yes, Spike and Buffy have a complicated relationship and Spike attempted to rape Buffy in “Seeing Red.” Attempted rape is always going to be a horrible horrible thing but the problem is that it was kind of the end result of a series of complicated events that I’ll explain on Friday. I’M NOT SAYING THAT SHE WAS ASKING FOR IT OR THAT SHE DESERVED WHAT HAPPENED. I ACKNOWLEDGE THAT WHAT SPIKE DID WAS WRONG. A really well written defense is shown in this post.

Funny thing is after that happened, he went off to get his soul so that he can become the man Buffy deserves. And their relationship was actually at its best in Season 7. It was also one of the few good things in Season 7, especially the episode Touched.

To quote Spike in Touched: “I’ve seen the best and the worst of you and I understand with perfect clarity exactly what you are.” Which is true as evidenced by this post.

Even if Spike were to lose his soul somehow, they could still work because Spike sans-soul and sans-chip has been shown to be a good ally to Buffy in Becoming Part 2. The best picture that shows their relationship was in Chosen when the two of them held hands and their hands caught fire as Spike was about to sacrifice himself. Buffy and Spike are the fire that the other one needs.

On Friday, I will cover the form of love everyone is familiar with but also misunderstands the most: Eros.