Does your 'shipping affect the way you see the shows?

[Marisa]

I dislike some couples and I ship some more than the other but it does not determine how I look at the episode. I will maybe not care for a scene with that particular couple but I judge the episode overall. I have not liked many couples in my shows yet I watch and watch I will use an example Clark and Lana they are a couple I will never get do they irritate me? Yep but I still love the show and episodes.
It is weird with Buffy I love spike and buffy but I can still smile at bangel episodes so maybe it is because I try to look at things from all angles that is why it doesn't bother me as much.

 

[sosa lola]

Hmmm, I think it's not much about ships as characters. I prefer watching epsiodes that have a lot of Xander. But I don't think shipping affects my enjoyment because none of the canon ships is my favorite. Episodes with Xander/Spike interactions are heaven to me.

 

[fly on the wall]

I guess for me it's yes and no.

I also guess that I'm a Bangel, but I don't like to label myself that way. Half the time it seems the Bangel and Spuffy labels have more to do with being anti-the other 'ship, and I never got into that. I certainly don't hate Spuffy. Aspects of Spuffy bug me, but so do aspects of Bangel. However, I do enjoy the Bangel episodes more than the Spuffy ones (for the most part) so I guess in that way it affects my viewing.

The only time a 'ship makes me hate an episode or whatever is when I hate the CHARACTER the person is in a relationship with. Like Riley. Or Kennedy. I don't like them as characters, regardless of who they were dating, so I don't count that.

 

[kristin1105]

I have to admit it does affect me. I try to not let it but sometimes the crazy shipper in me comes out and won't come back in.

 

[Abby27]

Hmm, I think it depends. My fav ship is Giles/Jenny and so the events of Passion make me want to throw a baby, but I still think it's one of the best episodes of the series. And while I'm not a declared Bangel fan, I still prefer Buffy and Angel over Buffy and Spike (even though I love Spike!). But as someone already said, in the final episode when Buffy tells Spike she loves him and their hands start to burn - so good~

 

[Kean]

I think it depends. I know I like certain eps more if there is a Bangel moment in it that I especially love. However, I didn't stop watching the show when Angel left and am actually really happy he did leave.

Recently I've found that I actually quite like Riley and am revisiting S4 and S5 and enjoying them more because of it. Again, the lack of Bangel is not factoring in this at all.

After The Gift the show changes for the worst for me and that is when I start becoming reluctant to watch eps. I feel the story stops being about heroism and that the characters, all of them, become intolerable. A big part of that is Spike, I really do not like him one bit. I care even less for Spuffy. There is no doubt that affects how I see the show. But again, it's not because Buffy isn't with my guy, I just really dislike the other one.

I think I could have lived with more Buffy/Riley, perhaps some Buffy/Wood (it looked to be going that way for awhile), Buffy/Xander wouldn't have been intolerable and I can honestly say I think there was really something between Buffy and Satsu.

So I have to agree with everyone else who said it has more to do with characters than pairings. If I like, or even kinda like, who Buffy is with, I'll give it a shot.

Of course, this is all built on the foundation that I fully believe that Angel is still numero uno in Buffy's heart and always will be. That also makes Buffy with others not very threatening.

 

[mayfever]

Pretty much what Kean said, except I love Spike and enjoy (season 7, not season 6) Spuffy and hate Riley with a vengeance (Ruffy scenes make me heave). I enjoy episodes because they are well-written, and despite my love for the ship, I freely admit that there is some spectacular Bangel awfulness out there ("warm it with my own", anyone?).

 

[Icarium]

After The Gift the show changes for the worst for me and that is when I start becoming reluctant to watch eps. I feel the story stops being about heroism and that the characters, all of them, become intolerable. A big part of that is Spike, I really do not like him one bit. I care even less for Spuffy. There is no doubt that affects how I see the show. But again, it's not because Buffy isn't with my guy, I just really dislike the other one.

I agree. At that point I honestly wouldn't wish Buffy on anyone I like (ditto for Spike), so I dislike Spuffy because I think it's disgusting story, not because I want Buffy to be with [insert character's name here]. In general it doesn't bother me that a a character I like isn't currently in the pairing I prefer - it start to bother me when the alternative couple is not good enough on its own. Willow/Tara is the closest I have to OTP but I don't hate neither of Willow/Oz, Willow/Xander or Willow/Kennedy. I mean, there are moments in which those pairings bother me but it's not because "Willow should be with Tara!" but because of the problems in the relationships themselves. I don't ship Bangel but I love S2.

That said, my shipping does influence my re-watching quite a bit - I tend to fast forward certain parts of episodes to get to Willow/Tara or Giles/Jenny but that's not really all that different than fast forwarding through the action to get to the drama or the funniest pieces of dialogue. On the other hand, even W/T can't really force me to rewatch Entropy or Bargaining more than once in a blue moon and with fast-forward button pressed all the time. 🙂

 

[A Flawed Fashion]

I think it depends. I know I like certain eps more if there is a Bangel moment in it that I especially love. However, I didn't stop watching the show when Angel left and am actually really happy he did leave.

Recently I've found that I actually quite like Riley and am revisiting S4 and S5 and enjoying them more because of it. Again, the lack of Bangel is not factoring in this at all.

After The Gift the show changes for the worst for me and that is when I start becoming reluctant to watch eps. I feel the story stops being about heroism and that the characters, all of them, become intolerable. A big part of that is Spike, I really do not like him one bit. I care even less for Spuffy. There is no doubt that affects how I see the show. But again, it's not because Buffy isn't with my guy, I just really dislike the other one.

I think I could have lived with more Buffy/Riley, perhaps some Buffy/Wood (it looked to be going that way for awhile), Buffy/Xander wouldn't have been intolerable and I can honestly say I think there was really something between Buffy and Satsu.

So I have to agree with everyone else who said it has more to do with characters than pairings. If I like, or even kinda like, who Buffy is with, I'll give it a shot.

Of course, this is all built on the foundation that I fully believe that Angel is still numero uno in Buffy's heart and always will be. That also makes Buffy with others not very threatening.

I (almost) completely agree with this post. I even found I kind of like Riley on rewatch. I don't want him to end up with Buffy, but I kind of like him. What I don't agree with is Buffy/Xander. They are best platonic friends in my mind. 🙂

The gift is where everything changes on this show. On rewatch, I completely stopped watching shortly before Tara died and never had the motivation to finish. I intended to, but then I realized I no longer liked any of the characters except maybe Dawn and Tara and I just stopped. That was just because the characters were getting so bad that I couldn't take watching those episodes again. If I go back and rewatch again, I probably won't even watch most of season 6. But, it isn't all about who you ship with who. I think the things these characters do to each other and themselves are horrible no matter what you think of the relationships.

Spike from seasons 4 to 6 really bothers me. I love him before season four and I can see he has his moments in season 7, but I laugh at him in seasons 4 and 5 and cringe at him in seasons 5 and 6 --- season five is a bit of an inbetween phase for him. There is no way I want to see that character with Buffy, so of course I don't ship them. If I liked him better, I could handle his relationship with Buffy more.

I still love the show, but I don't love that ship or Spike. So while it changes my view, I don't let it ruin what I do enjoy. The episodes I don't like to watch in season 6 are just because they are all around painful to watch. I don't stop watching at the musical because Buffy kisses Spike. I kind of even like that moment now that I know where they go and have accepted it (first time around I was hoping they would never hook up). I'll never ship Spuffy, but I don't let it ruin the show. Of course, I also will never really love any Spuffy moments so that changes my outlook on a lot of scenes.

 

[Himiko]

Hmmm... I do have a big fondness for Giles/Jenny and Spike/Drusilla. I admit that my fondness for Season 2 is probably influenced, in part, by this. These characters/pairings probably influenced my favourite moments.

Saying that, I'm not bothered one way or another by Buffy/Angel, and I found "Becoming Part 2" very touching. I don't like Buffy/Spike, particularly (I think part of this is me finding Buffy quite irritating on many an occasion XD), but I enjoy some Spuffy scenes, because I find Spike can be a fun, compelling character to watch.

I don't know... I'm more irritated by Buffy herself than by whatever pairing she's in. I wouldn't refuse to watch an episode because a pairing was in there that I didn't like, but if there was a character being particularly irritating that never got called on it, I might be less keen to watch it. So in terms of "negative effect" on my viewing, characters affect me more than ships. On the other hand, if I'm find of a ship, I'll probably enjoy at least the bits of an episode containing that ship 🙂

 

[Litheran]

I don't have a problem with seeing other ships over the course of the series. IWRY is an awesome episode for me; even though I see it differently than someone who ships Buffy and Angel together. Maybe it's because I like Angel and Spike pretty much equally; but I can enjoy Bangel while holding Spuffy in my heart. If there is one ship that I do my best to avoid watching it's Sprusilla; that's from actual discomfort though rather than plain dislike.

I do admit that sometimes part of me wants both vampires to move on to new and interesting women; just because of the damage Joss and Co. have done to both ships.

P.S. And my dislike for Killow relies solely on Kennedy and my belief that she is the one foretold to begin the end days. Hence why I don't even accept it's ship status.

 

[Willow My Love]

There's only one ship that makes me not like certain scenes. I'm gonna go ahead and state the obvious, but I hate Killow scenes.