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I was having a discussion with someone about why some ships were heavily written and read and others such as Sparmony were practically non-existent. And it raised a question I’ve had for some time about why Spander became so popular.
Spander is one of my favorite Buffyverse ships, although I’ve read lots of Spuffy and Spangel. In fact, I’ve read about 10 different Spike pairings, so aside from being Spike-centric they’ve been all over the map. It seems pretty clear why Spuffy, Bangel and Spangel are popular. They involve the three most popular characters from both shows in canonical or semi-canonical ships.
I didn’t start reading Buffyverse fic until just before S7 started. The first fic I ever read was a Spangel but there was lots of Spuffy around, so fairly soon I was reading more of that than anything else. Yet within that first year I was also reading Spander and I’ve read several times in LJ discussions that Spander fic began multiplying as Spuffy writers moved on to that ship. I realize a lot of people soured on Spuffy in S6 if not S7 and moved on, but it seemed to me the most logical person for Spike to move on to was exactly who they paired him with in canon -- Anya. Given that Mutant Enemy (ME) suggested the possibility and then dropped it, I was surprised that more people didn't take that abandoned plot thread on (the characters had loads in common, after all). Instead, writers crossed from het to slash to pair him with Anya's ex who clearly despised him.
I remember reading something in the past few months I found really fascinating. This person didn't like to read about a chipped Spike. She said (paraphrased) that she didn't want to identify with someone powerless and victimized. That wasn't how she saw herself and she didn't want to be reading about it. Having always looked at Spike's chip much the way the ME writers did, as a device that opens up possibilities, I'd always been puzzled by some people's hostility towards it. To me it didn't really change Spike’s personality, but instead provided character conflict. But reading this comment went a long way to making me understand another point of view. It also gave me a hypothesis about why Spanya (and Sparmony) didn't get written but Spander did.
Few wanted to write Sparmony because, besides the fact that it puts Spike in a light no one wants to acknowledge, it was far too close to reality for most people. Most women can relate to being Harmony in some relationship or other, (if not many of them), but in addition Harmony is, frankly, an idiot whom no one wants to identify with. So on the one hand you've got Harmony being kicked like a puppy and on the other she's so annoying you can't help wanting her to be kicked (that last may just be me...). What's a writer to do with that? There are some comedic stories that could be written but the possibilities seem limited to me. Plus I don't imagine anyone can see a happy ending for those two.
Looking at Spanya, Anya's not stupid but she can be annoying. She's also very vulnerable. I can't help thinking of "Harsh Light of Day" where Buffy, Anya and Harmony are all walking wounded from their relationships. What's interesting is that that's really the last time we see Buffy suffering rejection in a relationship. She has the upper hand with both Spike and Riley. But neither Anya nor Harmony was ever in control of their relationships, and after continued go-rounds they're both still walking that walk. We have much more sympathy for Anya than Harmony because she's much more admirable, but she's still a victim. She never gets over Xander. The point at which Spanya would most logically start is when Xander has just put her through the wringer. She's in doubt that he ever loved her. Xander treated her a lot better than Spike treated Harmony (not that that's saying anything, really), but in many ways she was just as much a convenience for him as Harmony was for Spike.
Relationship-wise, Xander is the alpha male of the show. It was never Xander who got dumped in his relationships. He kept Willow at bay forever and then showed his interest at the worst time. He cheated on Cordelia, whom he had a marked disdain for in the first place, and he dumped Anya who had chased after him. More than anyone on BtVS, Xander's indifference has given him the upper hand in his relationships. The only person he's had no luck with is Buffy and maybe Faith. Faith's more indifferent than Xander could ever be, yet you could still argue Xander got what he wanted from Faith anyway. Had they been together I rather think Xander would have dumped her and stuck with his friends when she hit her downward spiral. And according to Xander in S5 he's gotten over Buffy. His speech to Buffy urging her not to dump Riley, trying to set her up with his work buddy, etc. seem to support his claim.
What's interesting about Spike is that he's the only man that can be seen as a victim in his relationship. Giles suffers loss in his relationships but he doesn't suffer unrequited love. Angel suffers angst but he's frustrated, not a victim, and he’s the one who decides to leave. Oz is both a betrayer and betrayed but he's loved and desired. Riley gets some love and desire and he ends up betraying Buffy. Spike eventually gets the desire in S6 but he pays for it. He also gets loads of sympathy from viewers (though I realize this definitely wasn’t universal). But there wasn't much sympathy for Harmony and not a tidal wave of support for Anya either, even though she was the wronged party in every way. It seems to me women don't want to make that connection with a female character where they feel rejected by a desirable man and insecure in their ability to attract one. Anya couldn't get Xander to love her enough to stay. And Spike is more desirable to many people than Xander. How much more likely is it she'll be on the losing end again? (And in fact this is what happens. In S7 we see Spike rejecting her twice.) Moreover, except for Xander no one has expressed a desire for Anya. She can't get a date for the prom, we never see her dating anyone else, and even when Giles thinks she is his fiancee he is ambivalent about staying with her. She even gets dissed by the demon who opens the portal for her and Giles!
So that may be an explanation for why Spanya didn’t take off. So what does Spander offer? One possibility is that Xander continues his pattern of being in the driver's seat, in which case Spike can continue to be an object of sympathy but not over-identification. And the whole Spuffy dynamic can play out again, only this time with an ending we'll never see contradicted on the screen. It seems like this would be an attractive scenario for people who liked the canonical representations for Spike and Xander we saw in the series. Aside from the slash factor, Spike fits neatly into the pattern of people Xander has become involved with, and Xander’s power of indifference presents the challenge Spike seems to relish in his attractions.
A second possibility is that Spike's in the driver's seat, and Xander gets what's coming to him. Someone has finally got him to lose his indifference. In other words it satisfies the desire to see canonical tensions resolved. Spike gets to be the object of affection and desire he wants to be and the reader thinks he deserves. Xander finally loses himself completely to love in a way we’ve never seen.
The third possibility is that Spike and Xander are in a constant power play between Spike's power of desire and Xander's vacillation about whether he even wants to be involved. One thing I also find interesting about the earlier cited comment about chipped Spike is that I so often see Spander stories written with a blind eye towards their histories. Spike is written by some as a huge loser in love who is pining for someone's devotion. Aside from assuming Dru wasn't devoted to him, it completely ignores Harmony. And there was certainly evidence that Spike was attractive to women and could have been dating them had he wanted (his date for Xander's wedding, the waitress in "A New Man", Sheila's attraction to him in "School Hard", his various victims in "Sleeper", the acknowledgment by both Fred and Angel that Spike can be charming and physically appealing). In other stories, Xander is pictured as the geek loser who can't believe someone as desirable as Spike would want him. Yet Xander was desired by quite a lot of very attractive and desirable women. Even when things didn't or couldn't work out it, wasn't because the women weren't attracted to him (see Impata, Dawn, and Nancy in S7). So Spike and Xander both had choices in being involved with people, they just didn't want to be involved with the people who chose them. So rather than being unappreciated or even underappreciated, both are more likely to be screwing up or rejecting their possible relationships. This puts them in the same league as Angel and Buffy. By comparison, Harmony and Anya really are losers in love.
I've been fascinated by watching how certain ships have their fic falling into some general categories. It's always difficult to identify because so many things are mixed up in them, such as plotline, story genre and even categories of kink-preference. But after 2 years of reading Spander I came up with the following general groups:
(1) Hopeless Situational – (Inevitably angst) Amerella's story Heartbreak Even would be a good example of this. No matter what the interest of the pair in each other, they can not make it work, they can't overcome what they are. I get the impression a lot of early Spander set in or post S2 was like this.
(2) Schmoopy domestic – (Often fluff) The better fic has them as comfortable partners, sometimes in a sequel fic after the original conflicts have been overcome. Reremouse's "Newspaper!Verse" stories would qualify. The weak stuff has drippy stereotypes and often ends in marriage. This can also seem like #5, but I'd say that in #5 the interpretation centers on Spike as a mysterious stranger, whereas the #2 stuff is more of a partnership story that sees the two as soulmates.
(3) Conflict ridden – Sunday Morning Coming Down would be this sort of story. Has the possibility of a happy ending, but generally struggles with many of the same issues as #1, only it takes a more optimistic outlook on the possibility of the characters adapting. It's also generally set later in the series after Spike is chipped or souled, essentially bringing him closer to Xander's position. Doesn't see the two as perfect for each other so much as people who have learned to see each other in new ways.
(4) Seductive/Confident Spike – Oddly I don't see this much, though when I do it tends to be unchipped Spike and eventually vamp!Xander. I see him like this sometimes in human AUs. I differentiate this from #6 in that Xander is generally more canonically written and often finds Spike a challenge and a threat. One such fic is "Xanpet" an unfinished AU. In some ways I see this as the most romance-novel type interpretation, with Spike as the worldly older guy and Xander as the ingenue.
(5) Seductive Vulnerable Spike – Subtleties being the best example, also many other whore!Spike fics and, I'd say, the majority of Spander period. He has the bluster but that's all it is, as mostly what we see is either the mask stripped away or his internal dialogue telling us that, no matter what Xander sees, Spike's unsure on the inside. This fic revolves around Xander figuring Spike out and his attraction to him. Spike is a flower, Xander the gardener.
(6) Sub Xander – Sometimes Spike is confident, sometimes in the middle, sometimes cruel and dominating. But Xander is always deeply underconfident, worshipful of Spike once he gets over his mild denial, and basically lives through his relationship. Not my cup of tea, I'm afraid since, to me, it always ends up making Xander a non-entity.
(7) Dom Xander – I think Estephia's "Sixty Minutes" was the most plausible example of this genre I've seen, because, especially after the AR, I felt the characterization of both was plausible. Generally it's an interpretation of Xander with a strong dark streak and Spike a person he feels he can safely take it out on. Spike in these cases would be anything from a masochist to someone who felt he deserved what he got as atonement. Most of these stories are not unlike darker Wes/Spike stories. Spike himself can sometimes be a twin of Sub Xander, or more blustery and challenging. But in neither case does either usually act much in character, and they don't have much of a relationship, but seem more like two puppets on strings.
(8) Male Bonding - I think this is the rarest category of all, oddly enough, maybe because we saw so little of it on the show. What comes out tends to end up being more like #2 or #3. This would be a more professional-oriented view of them, as work rather than domestic partners, who are buddies with benefits and who have learned to depend on one another. The two are very matter-of-fact about their bond and the sex without feeling the need to talk about it. However you'd still know that if something happened to disrupt the status-quo (death, another person, whatever) the remaining partner would have a hole in their life. doyle's "All Our Exploring" hinted at something like that but it seemed more like the prequel to a full blown #8.
I should explain that I think all of these story types have their better and worse examples, and that the categories themselves don't have anything to do with quality (although they may have a lot to do with individual preference). What fascinates me in thinking about these fic categories is how they have prism'ed the characters. Spike, for example, is the killer app of Buffyverse shipfic because (IMO) he is so multifaceted. Xander has layers too, but I think only Wes comes close to Spike in that respect. And what these categories do is break the characters down like a prism into individual layers. My feeling is that the better stories include more of the layers and the weaker stories use just a single color, with one small aspect of the character becoming the whole depiction.