Let me take a mo' to let my inner fangirl loose for a bit.

ladyofthelog has an interesting poll about canon and fanon Spuffy. And I've seen similar discussions elsewhere as of late.

I'm a Big Damn Shipper. Spuffy is what brought me into fandom. Love it. I think I'm one of those rare people that loves Spuffy in canon without reserve. I think it's all brilliant. Some seasons offer different perspectives and takes than others. That's the beauty of the ship. It's ever-changing, ever-evolving, ever-developing. Static is boring.

I don't have any desire to change canon. Well...scratch that. I'd love to take out the AR, though that's more for feminist reasons. I suppose the most I'd want, as a shipper, is to put at least a Buffy/Spike kiss in S7, if not an actual sex scene (but, again, I have feminist reasons for wanting a sex scene).

Given that's the extent of what I'd change, I'd say I'm pretty darn happy with canon, overall. Especially S7, which is like the chocolate reward after all the UST and angst of the previous seasons. When I watch the end of Showtime, as I just did, and I see the way they look at each other...it's just all worth it. Because they're there, you know? They made it through Joss' obstacle course of angst and badness, and they're closer than any two characters have ever been because of it.

So I love what canon gave us on one level. On another level, though, I have my love for fanon Spuffy. This is taking the couple out of canon. Just the two characters at any point in time. I love that as well. How they interact. The possibilities that exist between them. It's exploring those possibilities that prompted me to start looking for fanfic about Spuffy.

So taking Buffy and Spike out of canon events, putting them through some contrivance or other to get them together, seeing if they'd work in any of these. That's what I love about fanon Spuffy. It's different than canon Spuffy, of course. I don't know if it would all work. I don't know if soulless!Spike/Buffy would work. But I love seeing how writers do it.

And that's why I love my ship. Because there's so many levels I can enjoy them on. I can enjoy what Joss gave me. I can enjoy the myriad of possibilities that fanfic writers provide. I can enjoy them in their post-NFA happy place in my head.

I rarely get all fangirly about ships in shows. I'm not at all a romantic. Spuffy has something that overcomes that, though, and I find I'm reduced to incoherent squeeing much of the time. That is a damn fine ship.