Jumping Ship

[kndizzle]

So, I've noticed a trend in my shipdom and I wondered if it was universal or I'm just crazy (possible). When I ship something, I ship it long and passionately, even if the relationship ends, the characters leave the show, etc. I've never been able to completely switch to another ship when mine goes down, even outside of Buffy/Angel/Jossland I've always shipped something for the duration of the show.

For example, I absolutely loved Willow/Oz, and I never quite got into Tara/Willow because of it. I know there are some hardcore shippers of all kinds of ships out there so my question is this: Did you always love the ship you currently call home? Have you ever switched from one ship to another? What led you to do it? Do you ship things more passionately within the Buffy/Jossverse or is it across the board?

 

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

No, I've never switched 'ships, not in BtVS, anyway. In terms of Buffy, always hated Bangel, only tolerated Briley, and have always loved Spuffy.

As soon as I choose a 'ship, I'm steadfast, and you can't drag me off it, lol.

In terms of other shows, I think it's basically the same. With SPN, it's always been Dean/Jo and Sam/Jessica for me. With True Blood, it's Eric/Sookie. With Firefly, it's Mal/Inara. With Angel, it's all about Cordy/Angel. Those are the only shows where I care about 'ships.

 

[Marisa]

I usually ship one ship throughout the whole show. Not with Buffy so much but with Angel I definitely ship hardcore Cordy/Angel. I think the only ship that I never once at all doubted in any sense was Max/Liz from Roswell.
Sometimes though for shows I feel one person is good with two people. The best example I can give is Cook/Effy and Freddie/Effy from Skins. At this point I love Freddie/Effy more but I also still love Cook/Effy in a different way. If ships are well written then I can love them all for different reasons.

I loved Willow/Oz a lot and I actually didn't get into Tara/Willow. I like them I just don't love them as much as some of my other ships. I haven't really switched from one ship to another I have been okay with two but never really switched.

 

[Scarlett Blade]

I've kinda changed my views on shipping since I joined the forums. I havent' really jumped ships, but I've changed from shipping Spuffy hard to not really caring. The same has happened to me for most ships in BTVS except Cangel and Tillow. I don't think my views will change on those two ships any time soon.

 

[Summerlilly]

I'm kind of a weirdo. lol I love my ships like Bangel or Twillow but its doesn't mean I don't have as much love for say Spuffy or Woz. I guess I just get caught up in the moment and love to see the magic in each relationship as it unfolds. I always say I'm a Bangel at heart but at the same time I respect and enjoy Spuffy greatly. I have a difficult time being hardcore for either, especially when I'm watching that particular story arch in a season. Does anyone else feel like that???

 

[zobothehobo]

Ok... so here is my shipping history with the Buffyverse.

I started a Bangel. Because I didn't know Spuffy existed. When I watched Something Blue, I wanted Buffy and Spike together. Then Spike developed feelings for Buffy and I was really excited. Then Buffy was such a bitca and I felt like Spike deserved WAY better than her. When I finished the series the first two times I was not a Spuffy because Buffy was such a bitca to Spike and all he did was love her. I've been that person who's like "all I did was love you, and you were so mean" so many times in my life that it was so hard for me to overlook that. I honestly didn't see any of the Spike being horrible to Buffy in season 6 until my latest re-watch when I was seriously looking for it. Now I am a diehard Spuffy and I don't think that will ever change ever.

As for other characters... I was pretty much always a Giles/Joyce shipper and will probably never see all the love and appeal for Giles/Jenny.

I liked all of Xander's relationships. At first I hated Dander, but now, I seriously love it.

I liked Woz at first, but never loved it. I never loved Oz. He was way to hipster for my taste. I don't like the hipsters much... at all. As soon as we met Tara, I was a Tillow shipper and I do hope Willow meets someone who completes her as much as Tara did, but I don't think I'll ever jump that ship, but I don't know.

I don't know what I would have done if I would have seen some of my ships first. I don't think I ship them because it's the last thing I saw... because I don't ship Killow and I didn't ship Giles/Jenny. And I wouldn't ship Buffy with someone else because she's not the one I want to be happy, Spike is. If he found someone else to make him as happy as Buffy (which I HIGHLY doubt is possible), I'd do it... but if not... No way would I jump the Spuffy ship.

As for other shows... I don't think this rings true either. I've never been one of those people who ships something and then won't ever ship something else. I'm a "romantic" at heart (I guess, sorta). I love love and am very intrigued by it. So I ship things easily and quickly. But if a ship's not right for me, I'll jump it faster than if it is. For a ship to be right for me, it has to have something I want in a relationship. It has to have that personal something that makes me relate to it. And once I find a ship that's right for me, it's hard to make me jump it.

 

[Chosen Enemy]

I will have to steal Zoe's history with Spuffy, as it's exactly like mine. Started a Bangel because Spuffy didn't exist, saw Something Blue, fell for Spuffy, and now a hardcore Spuffy fan, that will never ever change.

About the other ships, I don't care as much. With Willow, as long as it's not with Kennedy. But that's because of Kennedy, not because of Tara or Oz.

I'm also a Spangel, for the heck of it, but I wouldn't give Spuffy up for it.

I want Xander and Anya to be together, but it wouldn't kill me if they don't (and they probably don't, she's dead... Same with Giles and Jenny).

I don't care who Angel is with as long as it's not with Buffy (who I want to be with Spike), if that's Cordy, that's okay. If that's with Nina, that's okay. If that's with Merl, that's okay!

I'm gussing those won't change. There was that big Bangel to Spuffy change (which changed my life), and that's about it.

 

[Litheran]

Spuffy, Cangel, Xanya, Delena, Skate, Sookie & Eric. Oddly enough I really only have shipping preferences for fantasy/sci-fi shows.

I will say that by the time Lost was over they ruined Skate for me; but I still think fondly of the couple.

Hopefully a few years from now I'll be making ships my fellow posters will be agonizing over.

I will usurp you Joss; I SWEAR IT! (Insert maniacal laugh)

 

[Username]

I used to ship Woz, back when I first started watching btvs, but then I abandoned that ship when Tillow happened. But I think that's the only one.

 

[spikecakes]

Before I saw Innocence, I was a Bangel shipper. Then the forehead kiss happened, and I was immediately a Spangel. Spangel forever. Spangel is beautiful. Spangel is MY LIFE.. no, I wouldn't go that far. Okay, I would. I love Spangel.

 

[white avenger]

The first episode of the TV show that I ever saw was "Once More With Feeling," and I immediately saw the connection between Buffy and Spike. I was hooked on the show immediately, and since it was in syndication earlier in the day, two episodes a day, monday through Friday, I was able to catch up on what was happening pretty quickly. I remember (honestly, this is no joke, I swear) seeing Buffy and Angel together in a Season 3 episode and thinking, "Who's the Neanderthal hanging around Spike's girl?" That's what she always was to me. Spike's girl. I didn't know anything about Bangels, Spuffies, Cangels, Twillows, or any other kind of ship, except for the ones that I served on in the Navy, until I found and joined the (now defunct) Official Buffy Website and it's forum.

As a bribe for getting someone, who shall remain nameless, to return to the forum, I shipped Bangel for a whole month, which proved to be a real eye opening experience for me, and it was at that time that the idea of Adopt-A-Bangel first occurred to me. Seeing the hopelessness and despair of the poor Bangels just broke my heart, and I knew that I had to do something to bring them into the true light of Spuffy. "Friends don't let friends ship Bangel" became the watchword and the goal of my association with the Buffy community then, and remains so to this day, and I am quite proud to say that the very Bangel friend who I helped to bring back to the Boards was also the very first lifetime member of Adopt-A-Bangel. When I invited her to join, she was so thrilled and overcome with joy that she was struck so absolutely speechless that she couldn't even find the words to thank me, and remains so even to this day.

 

[Selfless705]

On my first watch throught I didnt really think about ships at all, I liked them all. Except Briley. But I only started thinking about it when I started making videos and you have too choose your OTP or uncanon pairing.

Anyway my three main ships have, and probably always be Cangel, Bangel and Tillow. Tillow being my OTP. I personally dont think that any other ships portray to me what love should be like, except maybe Fresley, but Fred is mine... Anyway, I dont think I could ever become a Spuffy or a Cordy/Groosalugg because they fuel off lust and one persons love that will never be returned.

In other shows, my ships have changed though such as in Ally Mcbeal I shipped Ally/John for the first three seasons. Then after season 3 I couldnt help but ship Ally/Billy, even though Billy wasnt there... 😛

 

[OhWow]

I'm a Spuffy and Cangel pretty much. But I still like Bangel, I think it's cute.

I don't know why people don't like Briley. I thought their relationship was cute and playful, until...they broke up obviously.

Woz was good while it lasted, but I more of a Tillow.

I have not read any comic books, so Dander...kinda grosses me out. I loved Cander, but Xanya is where I stand.

I don't like Frunn all that much. Prolly because I don't really like Gunn. So yea, I ship Fresley.

Don't even get me started on Cordy and Connor! 😱 I was just...so turned off by that.

I kind of linger around. I don't ship hardcore really. I see the love in each relationship and as [MENTION=8551]Summerlilly[/MENTION] said, I get caught up in the moment as well.

 

[Deus Ex Machina]

Well outside of the Whedonverse, I was a complete and utter shipper of Max/Liz, Maria/Michael, Alex/Isobel (Roswell) Callie/Erica, Callie/Mark (Grey's Anatomy) and I think that's about it.

Within the Whedonverse, any pairing they did in Firefly (Mal/Inara, Simon/Kaylee, Zoe/Wash) were my favorites with Zoe and Wash being my OTP.

Within Buffy? Woz is my OTP. I was a Tillow shipper and was even willing to do a Wozara (Willow/Oz/Tara) coupling, but Tillow fans kind of destroyed my love of Tillow and now I'm just a fan of Tara on her own. So that's the only ship I've jumped. I even like Xander and Cordelia together, but I think Buffy needs to be on her freakin' own because the guys she gets tied up with all end up being douches.

 

[Kean]

The only ship I have ever actively shipped, is Bangel. Quite frankly I don't think I have any room or energy to truly ship anything else. Whedonverse or not.

Having said that I have serveral ships in which I root for or in which I believe have to be together. So much so that I would view the shows as being unfinished if they did not get together. They include: Pacey/Joey, Derek/Meredith, Peyton/Lucas, Haley/Nathan, Helo/Athena, Donna/Josh and Rachel/Ross.

In literally every case, whether I start the show from the beginning or catch it on boxset, I always ship the couples that "are meant to be" and end up together.

 

[Moscow Watcher]

I ship Spuffy, but I love early seasons Bangel too. I never shipped Bangel OVER Spuffy, but I enjoy doing occasional Bangel fanart or writing an occasional fic.

As to Spuffy, I think I shipped them since season 4 because they were meant to happen. It felt in every Spuffy scene. I'm a bit scared of season 9, because I know that Joss loves heartbreak and after deconstructing Bangel in s8, it's our turn. I try to not take comics seriously, but looks like I fail. Damn you, Joss! 🙂

Anyway, I say to myself that we'll always have fanfiction.

I never shipped (in the proper sense) any couple outside of Jossverse, but, looking at the other shows, I realise that I love couples with Spuffy dynamics: Sarkney (Alias), Skate (Lost), Cara/Leoben, Helo/Athena (BSG).

 

[prophecygrrl]

I've never really participated in fandom before BtVS so I've never actually shipped anything before. I like a lot of ships, some of them overlapping with each other, some not. I find that when I'm watching shows for the first time (I really power through series that have already been aired!), I'll sorta ship who they want me to ship, then later when I have more time to think about things I separate the pretenders from the contenders. 😀 For instance, I used to love Woz and I still like them, but I can't say that I ship them anymore. I also used to love Tillow, but I only ship them now with reservations. It's a thing.

 

[This Year's Girl]

I don't ship-ship, but I do have favourites. 🙂 I'm most of all a Cangler forever and ever, but I used to really, really, REALLY like Spuffy too and recently that's changed and I've grown more and more fond of Bangel (but don't get it twisted, Angels soulmate was Cordy, y'all! 😀). I think it's because of all the problems I've started seeing in Spuffy and realising I that what I like about Spike and Buffy is the unhappy love of it all, not the relationship. But usually I don't switch no, mostly 'cause I can see the good in most of the relationships.

About other 'ships: Sawyer and Juliette in Lost! OH MY GOD, I loved them so much, they reminded me of Cangel. :heart:

 

[Chosen Enemy]

I think it's because of all the problems I've started seeing in Spuffy and realising I that what I like about Spike and Buffy is the unhappy love of it all, not the relationship. But usually I don't switch no, mostly 'cause I can see the good in most of the relationships.

Interesting. I see the same as you, but the opposite. I saw Bangel as an unhappy love (except when he was human), they were hurting all the time, Buffy cried a lot, it was a very tragic love. They started to annoy me in season 3, because they had so many problems and whined about it all the time. But with Spike, Buffy let herself laugh, he made her feel good. She came to him, kept coming to him becaue he made her feel good.

Well, we have a different point of view 😀

 

[This Year's Girl]

Interesting. I see the same as you, but the opposite. I saw Bangel as an unhappy love (except when he was human), they were hurting all the time, Buffy cried a lot, it was a very tragic love. They started to annoy me in season 3, because they had so many problems and whined about it all the time. But with Spike, Buffy let herself laugh, he made her feel good. She came to him, kept coming to him becaue he made her feel good.

Well, we have a different point of view 😀

I agree about that too. I don't really see Buffy being perfect with anyone she's been with to be honest. But I've started to prefer Bangel over Spuffy because I think Spike and Buffys love was harmful. I don't want to make this about a Spuffy/Bangel discussion though, so let's just settle with me saying that I think that some of the things that happend in the Spuffy relationship is things I don't want younger persons (or anyone really) to associate with love. I see good in the relationship too though and I agree that Spike brought forward Buffy's funnier side. 🙂 But I think Angel was a good match, and I do think he really loved her and that they helped each other evolve as persons.