Non-Rec: Shipposting, the Spander Edition
Feb. 5th, 2019 02:30 pmWhile I’d read and enjoyed fanfiction before Buffy the Vampire Slayer I was never as invested as I got to be with Buffy so it has always felt like my ur-fandom. At that point I read only het stories and I even remember very vividly being on a fansite (Geocities ;)) that had a link to “Slash” with no explanation about what that was so I assumed that it meant gory stories a la slasher films. A very short time later Lord of the Rings came out and I found myself educated in the meaning of slash fanfiction and I returned to BtVS interested in what was on offer. Spander immediately jumped out at me not because I could see it as an extension of the text like some ships, but more because I was really interested in how authors might get them from where they stood in canon to making me believe in them as a pairing. Another part of their appeal was that they both functioned as outsiders in different ways and I, very much an outsider at the time, loved stories of them not only finding each other but in building ties to a greater community.
I’m not sure if I would have latched on to this pairing with as much adoration if I’d have encountered them first when I was older, but as it stands with the rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia I still have great affection for this ship that dominated by late teens.
And because icon making seems to be my new favorite thing, I’ve got some of those too. :)
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