Which I realize is also not a popular opinion, but still.
But a good one, with which I'm willing to agree. (I'm actually open to Xander growing up and maturing in fic and then getting paired with various BtVS ladies. It's purely canon!Xander that I have trouble shipping.)
Dawn. Okay. You know what, I'm just gonna quote my Yuletide recipient on this, because in the midst of a discussion on Matilda she had this to say:
I know for me and many viewers/fans, Dawn as younger-sister is really hard to shake, even though she's almost an adult by series end and can be aged up regardless, she feels like a younger-sister to me. Likewise Joyce-as-mother. We-as-viewers take the viewpoint character (Buffy)'s age to be the norm and point-of-identity... it's illogical but it's how I react to text.
Which nicely sums up my feelings about Dawn. Because she's "younger sister," I have trouble shipping her with any of the regular cast. Even though in ten years the age difference will be almost irrelevent and even though she seems to me to be nearer maturity than Xander, I still couldn't ever ship them. Even more so for Spike/Dawn, since I see them as having a much closer sibling relationship than Dawn has with Xander.
The one exception might possibly be, would you believe, Dawn/Andrew. I think deird1's just about convinced me. (And now she's writing fic about them, too!) Her basic premise is: that they're both geeky with the potential to be good friends; that, once he falls for her, Andrew will appreciate her without letting her angst about her keyness too much (because, as Deird says, "It’s pretty hard to get all caught up in your own dramatically heart-breaking angst when the person you’re talking to will probably respond with 'Wow! Cool story. I wonder if it would work as a comic book series… And hey – can you glow?'")
But you didn't ask who I shipped her with, you asked what kind of guy I thought she needed. And... I don't really have an answer for that. I'm actually terrifically bad at coming up with the 'sort' of person a person ought to be with, especially when I don't have any previous evidence of that person in relationships to work from. Like, I can opine that Cordy's better for Xander than Anya is, but that's just a comparison between two options. I can't construct the perfect person for Xander. Or Dawn. Or myself, for that matter. It's... too abstract for me, or something.
So that was all really wordy and didn't really answer the question. Oh, well.
no subject
But a good one, with which I'm willing to agree. (I'm actually open to Xander growing up and maturing in fic and then getting paired with various BtVS ladies. It's purely canon!Xander that I have trouble shipping.)
Dawn. Okay. You know what, I'm just gonna quote my Yuletide recipient on this, because in the midst of a discussion on Matilda she had this to say:
Which nicely sums up my feelings about Dawn. Because she's "younger sister," I have trouble shipping her with any of the regular cast. Even though in ten years the age difference will be almost irrelevent and even though she seems to me to be nearer maturity than Xander, I still couldn't ever ship them. Even more so for Spike/Dawn, since I see them as having a much closer sibling relationship than Dawn has with Xander.
The one exception might possibly be, would you believe, Dawn/Andrew. I think
But you didn't ask who I shipped her with, you asked what kind of guy I thought she needed. And... I don't really have an answer for that. I'm actually terrifically bad at coming up with the 'sort' of person a person ought to be with, especially when I don't have any previous evidence of that person in relationships to work from. Like, I can opine that Cordy's better for Xander than Anya is, but that's just a comparison between two options. I can't construct the perfect person for Xander. Or Dawn. Or myself, for that matter. It's... too abstract for me, or something.
So that was all really wordy and didn't really answer the question. Oh, well.