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Why I love Spander...
Firstly, I’m going to ask the question why do I like Spike? He is, after all, one half of the pairing in question, the yin to Xander’s yang or the yang to Xander’s yin. Or maybe Fang to Xander’s Hawaiian shirts. Opposites, is what I’m trying to say. Badly.
The first part of why I like, no, love, Spike I only figured out a few days ago when I told a friend that I had a crush on the lead singer of My Chemical Romance and I particularly liked his bleached hair. My friend wasn’t surprised and merely said “Oh, it’s the Billy Idol thing.” So, after two years of lusting after my Spikealicious, I’ve finally figured out my physical attraction to him. It’s the Billy Idol thing.
Why else? He’s English, like me, dresses in black and leather, has a great, dark and dry sense of humour and has an attitude that would make any teenager proud. Nothing makes me sit up and take notice of a character more than a bad attitude. But the clincher is how good the badness is, how clever and how justified. Spike isn’t just a badass vampire who smokes a lot and always makes it look cool. He’s so much more than just a demon, a one dimensional monster that goes grr and sometimes bites – when he can. He oozes something more, something that was never taken away from him along with his soul. It’s the reason he survived so long where other vampires perished. It’s the reason he was loyal to Drusilla, to Buffy and even to Angel in the end. It’s the reason that he wasn’t the crazy megalomaniac Angelus was.
And the fanfiction version of Spike is not much different. He can love, and when it’s given to another it’s so deep and so fantastically beautiful that I can’t help but fall in love with him even more. Spander Spike loves to the point of no return. He adores Xander and would die before Xander is even so much as bruised. Spike protects him like a polar bear would protect her cub. He would never cheat, never hurt him and certainly never make him feel like less than he really is. That’s what makes my Spike a champion and that’s what makes him my dream boyfriend, even if he is technically a walking corpse. But that just means that he never ages and most importantly of all, he never truly dies. He survived Sunnydale and we all know he survived that alley way. We know.
Xander: Physically, he’s my perfect guy, just what I go for. Tall, dark hair, dark eyes and a big smile. And his personality holds so much more. He’s a genuinely nice guy and damn funny to boot. Yes, he can be obnoxious and I’m sure if I knew him in real life he’d irritate me immensely. But he’d charm me immensely, too. And like Spike, he’s loyal to a fault, and that’s something that translates well to fanfiction!Xander, along with his attitude. Let’s face it, Xander has a sharp tongue and despite the apparently bad high school grades, he possess a wit which is cleverer than most. Again, this is a quality that I admire greatly. It’s the reason I love characters such as Xander and Spike, McKay and Sheppard, Mal, House and Wilson (The later holds no slash interest as of yet, even though they’re hot and clearly meant for each other). I wouldn’t last a second in a row with any of them and that just puts them on a higher pedestal for me. Hmmm, and now I’m wondering if we shut all of them in a room together who would be left standing. I guess that would depend if Spike was chipless, if Sheppard had his P-90, if McKay had a laptop and a strange ancienty device, if House and Wilson had a vile containing an infectious disease, if Xander had a sword and both eyes or if Mal had Jayne.
Anyway, I’ve digressed, as I so often do. Why do I like Spike and Xander as a pairing, especially considering the lack of screen time they had together? Because they have a spark, chemistry, something that makes my heart boom. And mostly? It’s fanfic that’s done this to me. I began reading Spander even before I really knew who Spike was. I knew who Xander was because I owned the first season on DVD, but I hadn’t seen any episodes beyond that. I had a vague idea who Spike was and what he looked like, but apart from that I got my information from slash fics and it all sealed the deal.
For me, Spike and Xander are the perfect couple. They are so similar and so opposite at the same time. They’re oxymorons! I wonder which one is the moron and which one is the oxy. What’s an oxy? They’re passionate, fiercely protective of each other, ever-loving, best friends and the part that really works for me is that they’re forever. Always forever. Immortality, man, in two senses: Firstly, one day, somewhere, somehow, Spike will always turn Xander and Xander will stay the same bouncy, young, happy and light boy forever. Vampire Xander with a shiny soul and a demon on his arm. I don’t need that in a fic because I know it will happen anyway, afterwards. Secondly, Spike and Xander are immortalised through words, through our fanfic, through fandom. We’ve immortalised them.
Forever is an important factor for me. In real life, where everything around you withers and dies, where everything ends and changes, it’s comforting to have something that will always remain the same.
Spander is a fandom great, a classic, the Ferrari of slash, a phenomenon that will never be forgotten and often turned to. Fandom will never die and neither will Spander. My boys are forever and that’s why I love them.
But that’s just me. What do you think? Discuss while I hit the sack. Go!
no subject
They're both nice guys who tend to hide that behind a biting form of humor. They're very human, very much so, even though Spike is a vampire. In fact, from what we saw of vampire Xander, it was already obvious that he was using the same methods William used when he became Spike, to seem the tough guy.
And it's that very humanity that attracts me to them. It'ts for that reason that I prefer keeping Xander strictly human. No vampire Xander, no superpowered Xander, just Xander. Because that's who he'd want to be. And showing Spike's devotion in staying with that Xander even as he grows older and goes wrinkled and finding new things to like about his face, no matter how it changes with age.
Xander isn't my physical type, neither is Angel for that matter. I never found either of them all that attractive, but characterwise I could definitely see him with Spike. Mostly because spander is one of the few relationships with Spike, that is a relationship of equals. Now I prefer Spike as a sub, but with Xander I could see them both switching places depending on the mood. (though I still have a hard time seeing Spike topping anyone, unlike with Angel, I could actually see Xander bottoming, which is something I could never ever see Angel do, unless he's topping from the bottom.)
no subject
Absolutely. They are very much the same. They both have that special brand of humour they use as a sheild, and underneath the bluster there are two quite vulnerable men. But they'll never admit that to each other so they'll continue to try to get one over the other one.
And it's that very humanity that attracts me to them. It'ts for that reason that I prefer keeping Xander strictly human. No vampire Xander, no superpowered Xander, just Xander.
That's very much like
Now I prefer Spike as a sub, but with Xander I could see them both switching places depending on the mood.
LOL! Ahh, the old top V bottom debate. I always enjoy thinking about this. For me, Spike is a top and so is Angel. Xander is a bottom which is why he works in a pairing with Spike or Angel. It's also why I don't like Spangel: I just can't see either Spike or Angel taking it for the other one. :oD In my fics Spike is the top 80% of the time, with Xander only taking the lead occasionally just for variety ;o)
no subject
Oh I can see the appeal, but the problem for me is that superpowered Xander has been soured for me by all the Xander Stu fics I've read over the years. Far too many fics with a superpowered Xander have little or nothing to do with the actual Xander.
Not that there aren't exceptions to this rule.
no subject
Just look at his fantasies, the Buffybot, his dreams about Buffy, he simply wants a partner who can dominate him. Cecily, Dru, Angelus, Buffy... they all have one thing in common, they're all tops/doms.
To me one of the reasons Buffy/Angel doesn't work, is because both Buffy and Angel are doms and neither of the two would be willing to submit longterm, which is why to me Buffy/Spike does work, because Spike's a sub and is willing to let Buffy be in charge.
Xander on the other hand is neither a dom nor a sub. He can easily work as both, but prefers being on top. I think mostly, because Xander has little power in his actual life, that where sex is concerned, he just likes to be in charge.
no subject