So my BFF is watching Buffy for the first time, and she is loving it. Yay! I met up with her today and she returned Seasons 3 and 4 to me and I passed along Seasons 5 and 6 to her. And of course I asked her what she thought about the show.

So she told me lots of things, and then she goes, "And OMG, I love Spike." And she started telling me all the things she loves about him--how he has the best lines, how he manages to meld the best qualities of hero and villain, etc.

And then she goes:

"And I really love his ambiguities."

And I really love his ambiguities.

And I really love his ambiguities.

And I just needed to share that.

So I have read the Espenson-penned Spike comic prelude to S9! And it was DELIGHTFUL. SO INCREDIBLY SPIKE.

( cut for spoilers )

And here are some initial thoughts! I may have more later. We shall see.

( spoilers leik woah )

Okay, I should know better than to read any post that is aimed at the general BtVS fandom public and asks whether Buffy was really in love with Spike. Like, Lauren, why would you do that? You know it's just going to depress you!

( behind a cut for rambling and so as not to spoil marketchippie. This is about S7! )

This isn't an "Argue with me!" post. You can say, "I disagree," all you want, but I just really wanted to get my feelings down on paper and wallow in my own love for these two. angearia and I were talking just last night about how much we love them--more all the time--the kind of love that just makes you feel like your heart is going to explode. And even though I said a lot of what I just said in my manifesto, I needed to say it again for my own sake. So...don't argue with me, okay? Expressing disagreement is fine, but this is a happy post. 'Kay? Kay.

It's done!

You can find my massive Shipper Manifesto/Recs right here! I hope you enjoy it and that you maybe find a fic or two that you haven't read or that you'd forgotten all about.

I apologize to everyone whose wonderful fic I couldn't fit on the list, but seriously? The thing was taking over my life. There are so many more wonderful fics (many written by members of my flist) that didn't fit into any category and so didn't make the list but are certainly worth reading. I really do love you! And I will gladly pimp you out any time!

The manifesto is partially adapted from my post a few days ago, but I've made quite a few changes, so if you actually want to wade through it, it might be worth it to you.

And don't miss out on xlivvielockex's gorgeous Cordy/Angel list and anythingbutgrey's explosively excited Wes/Lilah list (which I look forward to reading EVERY WORD OF once my brain solidifies again). And definitely take a look around and see what else you can find that's relevant to your interests!

Thanks so much to all of you for suggestions/links/thoughts/etc. I couldn't have done it without you!

As an extension of that, please feel free to correct me on anything in the post. I juuuuust posted it, so you might find a broken link or something else embarrassing. I do want you to tell me!

I kind of want to write a piece of meta about how much Flannery O'Connor would love Spike and how he's like the most grotesque character ever and how both him getting his soul and dying in "Chosen" are like the most O'Connor-esque moments of grace EVER and how well-constructed his arc is and how O'Connor would think at the end he'd grown closer to the Catholic view of the world (ha! but she would!) and how she would just eat this up (incidentally, Faulkner would also love Spike. In case you were wondering, and I know you were). I sort of started rambling about this whedonesque and it was just coming together before my eyes and I LOVED IT.

There are a couple of problems:

1) It's been a while since I've studied her in depth, and I'd have to go back to the university library and pick up a ton of books and spend a lot of time on this and, really, I should be working on my novel. Or at least writing fic for the approximately 12.7 challenges and fic-a-thons I'm signed up for.

2) Who would read this? No, seriously: who would read this?

3) Why does my brain work this way?

Speaking of ways my brain works, last night when I went to visit my parents (I was kinda weepy and needed hugs from my mama, okay?) for some reason we were talking about babies, and I asked if anyone has ever done a spoof of Baby and Child Care as written by Mr. Spock instead of Dr. Spock and how this needed to exist in the world somewhere, and my daddy shook his head and said that this was proof that I had too much time on my hands. And I'm like, "I just had this thought! Sitting right here with you! You should be more interesting in hopes of distracting me if it bothers you!"

Oh, family.

Also, I really, really need to avoid getting into internet arguments in places outside of lj. I really, really do. They always leave me feeling slightly sick to my stomach.