Re: A Statement on the 'Shipper War' and an Introduction

["Phoen Dusk" <sojourner.dusk@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

*brushes the dust off a keyboard*

Okay, while I know I haven't been around the last few years - and doubt
that anyone here besides MH might remember me - I felt the urge to add
in my 1/50th of a dollar regarding the latest "Ship War" brought about
by the newest BtVS Canon 'Ship - Butsu.

--- In buffywantswillow@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Lilith" <lilithheart@...>
wrote:

> This is Valyssia. You can buy that or not. It really doesn't matter so
> much to me. Actually, you can say, "Who the heck is Valyssia?" too if
> you like. But I doubt you will.

Nice intro. No idea who you are, but I've been stuck in a cave deeper
and darker than The Bear's for the last half a decade, so that's not
that surprising.

> So here's the thing: I don't get it.

*snip*

> Why I do what I do is simple. I am not a shipper. I will maintain that
> until the day I leave the fandom. I write the pairing I write because
> the characters are marvelous together. They play off of each other
> wonderfully. No other ship has it so good.

And that's a healthy, intelligent attitude to have. Me? I'm a
semi-shipper. I like B/F (mostly post-This Year's Girl) because I find
the characters play well against one another, as they start to examine
the light and dark aspects each sees in the other. The self-loathing
scene in the Church is what really got me.

> Fuffy: one of the characters has to have a full frontal lobotomy to
> make Fuffy work.

Now, a Rabid Fuffy would berate you here. My POV: depends on where in
character development (definitely not Season 8), and, for you, it
doesn't work. To each their own.

> Spuffy: see fuffy then watch `Something Blue.'

Meaningless sex fur Buffy; obsession for Spike. And Spike should have
been staked in Season 4.

> Bander: the character would be interesting paired, but Xander would
> have the live expectancy of a gnat in a cloud of DDT if he were
> screwing Buffy. Realistically written the first `Big Bad' to come
> along would pull his wings off.

Well, I'd give him a little more time to live than that. He's still
alive after all these years - someone *cough*Joss*cough* must like him.
But, yeah, I think that idea sailed off even for Xander on Valentine's
Day many years ago.

> Bangel: the curse.

*snip*

> Plus, you have the whole charming pedophilia vibe from the
> Whistler stuff at the end of season two. That I'll never get over.

Thanks. I had managed to forget about that. Now I'll probably start
seeing Angelus in a priest's vestments having Buffy kneel before him to
"receive the Sacrament."

> Buffy/ Satsu: (smush as you like) This is the only `ship' I can get on
> board with. The reasons are pretty simple. One: if Satsu died or left
> in a huff tomorrow would we really care? Two: none of the current
> shippers win. No one can say `we're the best,' `we were right,' or
> anything else equally trite.

I'd care if Satsu died. Who gets the lip gloss? And the Rabid Bangels
will still say "they're the best" at the top of their lungs. Thankfully,
I have good earplugs: 130 dB noise reduction.

> I aspire to do nothing more than entertain with my writing. I am
> simply providing a service for those who read. I know that nothing I
> write will ever be justified in canon unless I myself blatantly tie
> the plot to canon. It wouldn't be even if Joss took a hair and said,
> "Buffy, Willow you two are a couple. Now go and act coupley," all of a
> sudden on a whim. I can aspire to write storylines that are more
> entertaining than canon. But that is the best I can hope for and
> honestly the greatest compliment I've ever been paid.

Congratulations: you're a writer. You can put your hat next to Joss
Whedon, Stephen King, Clive Barker, Christopher Moore, Mad Hamlet, and
thousands of others. You write to entertain, both yourself and your
audience, which - at times - will be just yourself. You get enjoyment
from putting the proverbial pen to the paper, and, as such, I commend
you. You even manage to take the high road and avoid embroiling yourself
in what will be nothing more than a giant flame war - again.

> *Valyssia walks away shaking her head.*
>
> I still don't get it.

That's because you learned how to think about possibilities, instead of
limiting your scope of vision between a set of blinders. By their
nature, people hate and fear that which is different from them, and that
which exists outside their limited point of view. It's the rare
individual that learns to expand their horizons, and discovers that the
where the road ends, the journey truly begins.

Alright, time to step off the soap box and go back to doing what I do
best - trying to figure out what it is I'm doing here.


Becuase someone has to be,

Phoen Dusk




------------------------------------

Willow: "It's a good fight, Buffy, and I want in."
Buffy:  "I kinda love you."
                      --'Choices'

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