Ships with ships

[dexeded]

Okay, crappy title alert. Anyway, I was wondering if shippers of two particular characters have a tendency to have the same ships for other pairings. For example, if you ship Spuffy, are you more likely to ship Cangel and/or Weslah? Does supporting Dangel mean you like Sprusilla? And what parts of your personality do you think are attracted to certain 'types' of pairings? Like, you're a total romantic and love at first sight person, therefore you ship Bangel. (Just an example! Not saying it's true!)

 

[kittenpoker]

Hmmm, good question....

the relationships I really like are Spike/Buffy, Angel/Cordelia, Tara/Willow and Xander/Anya

in fanfic though I'm a big fan of Spike/Xander...I just really like the way their energies blend.

I'm not sure if there's a correlation or connection between all these, I'll have to think about that. 🙂

 

[Kean]

I think there is a bit of a trend with this. I ship Bangel and in turn I prefer Cordelia/Xander and Willow/Oz over say, Willow/Tara and Anya/Xander.

I have often wondered does this happen because my favourite seasons are 1-3, or is 1-3 my favourite because of the ships? Personally, I think it is the former.

 

[sisterofmercy]

I'm a Spuffy but I LOVE Sprusilla and hate Cangel. I love both Tillow and Woz though. In books, films, etc I like relationships that are passionate and fiery, hence my love of Spike and Buffy.

 

[brinkster130]

I think the trend has to do with which seasons you personally prefer. I've noticed that those who prefer early seasons tend to ship Bangle, Cordy/Xander, Willox/Oz and that those who prefer later seasons tend to ship Spuffy, Tara/Willow, Anya/Xander etc. There are of course exceptions to this, but its a trend I've noticed.

My favorite season are 1-4 so my favorite pairings come from those seasons. Bangel, Willow/Oz, Cordy/Xander, Buffy/Riley.

 

[PrincessBuffy16]

You know, I see people trying to fit couples in their stereotypical boxes, and it amuses me. One person on tumblr said to me it's impossible to ship Chuck and Blair (Gossip Girl) and Stefan and Elena (The Vampire Diaries), and if you say you ship them, you're lying to yourself. And I ship them, both.
For me, there are so many things that make me ship a couple, not just their story. Firstly, I probably love both characters. Actors have good chemistry. And yeah, story is important.. but the most important thing is the feeling I get when the couple is on screen. You know, that smile that appears on your face without even noticing.. that feeling. So, yes, I ship Bangel and everything that comes with them (soul mates, love at first sight and everything people keep talking about them), but for instance, I don't ship Dawson and Joey who have the same characteristics as Buffy and Angel.

 

[Kean]

You know, I see people trying to fit couples in their stereotypical boxes, and it amuses me. One person on tumblr said to me it's impossible to ship Chuck and Blair (Gossip Girl) and Stefan and Elena (The Vampire Diaries), and if you say you ship them, you're lying to yourself. And I ship them, both.
For me, there are so many things that make me ship a couple, not just their story. Firstly, I probably love both characters. Actors have good chemistry. And yeah, story is important.. but the most important thing is the feeling I get when the couple is on screen. You know, that smile that appears on your face without even noticing.. that feeling. So, yes, I ship Bangel and everything that comes with them (soul mates, love at first sight and everything people keep talking about them), but for instance, I don't ship Dawson and Joey who have the same characteristics as Buffy and Angel.

I see this a lot too. I ship Bangel but I have zero interest in Stefan/Elena (Or Damon/Elena for that matter). I ship ship Pacey/Joey (when, apparently, if I am staying on trend, I should ship Joey/Dawson). But then I can love Lucas/Peyton too.

I think people based their assumptions on the wrong thing i.e. that someone ships B/A for the "love at first sight" angle, and so that should be applied to all ships in all verses. But the reality is, I don't care for love at first sight at all, and don't even really believe it for B/A. I ship ships because of how they interact together and what I perceive them to give each other. First love means absolutely nothing to me.

 

[InsaneMystic]

I don't think it's the preference of S1-3 vs S4-7... I do ship Spuffy and Tillow (there's a clear pattern to me comparing these two, of course; I've summed it up before as my belief that "true love is indistinguishable from best friends with benefits"). Before the Bad Hair Dude turned out to be a total *expletive deleted* in S8, Cangel fit that bill, too, so it was the ship I minded that guy least in. 😛

Still, I definitely prefer Xandelia over Xanya any old day (I'm not a serious shipper of either, but one is amusing, the other is just, well, weird... I simply just don't "get" Xanya.); also, I wouldn't see Giles in a ship with anyone but Jenny as coming close to as much as I loved those two together (Giles/Jenny is a ship I'm definitely on board with).

 

[xaphania]

I ship Spuffy, but aside from that I don't really mind who the other characters are with.

I find the dynamics of the Spike/Dru relationship interesting, and how that relates to Darla/Angelus.

As long as Spike and Buffy are together, the others can do what they like. 😛

 

[Enemies]

In the beginning I was a Bangel through and through and I think that was mostly because at such a young age I believed in the romance of love, one boyfriend forever, love at first sight type of relationships. However as I got older and (arguabley) wiser I would now consider myself a Cangel shipper, although I still love Bangel, this is because I feel their relationship is more realistic in the sense that it grows over time from two friends and blossoms into love. I also believe that given time to progress into a relationship Cangel would have been a much more solid and stable relationship than the argumental, overtly passionate relationship Bangel has.

I'd also say I ship Fresley. Perhaps its got something to do with the fact that I like the suspense in the progression of these relationships, I don't know :S

 

[arabella]

Bangel, Fresley, Woz (don't get me wrong, I like tillow too), xanya, Giles/Jenny (does that one have a clever name?)...that's pretty much my shippage.


And of course snoyce...who doesn't love snoyce?

 

[Mithol]

Well, I ship Bangel, Spuffy, Willoz, Xanya, Tillow, Fresley, Giles/Jenny and Giles/Joyce.

What does that say about me...? I'm not sure. Nor do I see any pattern.

 

[Marisa]

With the whedonverse it seems to be this way. Otherwise my ships are random at times and completely different. Like I consider Max/Liz from Roswell to be very romantic a bangel type but I don't like Bangel but love max/liz 100%.

Now in the whedonverse I love Cangel and also love Spuffy. I can go all over the place during re-watches but I guess it is a pattern in ways.

 

[Valjavertjinn]

I like all the ships in seasons 2-3.🙂

 

[Icarium]

Judging by the fanfiction pieces I have read, Willow/Tara fans don't like Spuffy much. Or is it me refusing to read those stories that also have Spuffy in them? 🙂

 

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

Seeing your title conjured up an image in my head of Spike and Buffy riding on a large ship, lol.

I think that yes, if you ship Spuffy you are more likely to ship Xanya and Cangel. At least this is what I've seen among st fans. Also, it seems like Bangels are more likely to ship Cander, as opposed to Xanya or Dander. Perhaps it's a toss between the "original" and the "later" ships. You're either into one of the other. I think some fans are purists when it comes to shipping; what I mean is what they ship the characters first love (Cordelia/Xander, Willow/Oz, Buffy/Angel, etc) whereas some fans prefer the later ships.

Who can attest to this theory? I definitely fall into it, as my ships are: Cangel, Spuffy, Xanya, and Tillow.

What part so my personality allow me to be attracted to my chosen ships? I'm not sure on that. My aversion towards romance probobly plays a factor in my attraction to Spuffy.

 

[dexeded]

Seeing your title conjured up an image in my head of Spike and Buffy riding on a large ship, lol.

I think that yes, if you ship Spuffy you are more likely to ship Xanya and Cangel. At least this is what I've seen among st fans. Also, it seems like Bangels are more likely to ship Cander, as opposed to Xanya or Dander. Perhaps it's a toss between the "original" and the "later" ships. You're either into one of the other. I think some fans are purists when it comes to shipping; what I mean is what they ship the characters first love (Cordelia/Xander, Willow/Oz, Buffy/Angel, etc) whereas some fans prefer the later ships.

Who can attest to this theory? I definitely fall into it, as my ships are: Cangel, Spuffy, Xanya, and Tillow.

What part so my personality allow me to be attracted to my chosen ships? I'm not sure on that. My aversion towards romance probobly plays a factor in my attraction to Spuffy.

I do like Spuffy and Xanya, but I'm fine with Cander. And I prefer Woz to Tillow. So season-wise, not really a factor for me.

 

[Whirlwind]

I ship Spuffy, Cangel, Fresley, Xanya and Tillow.

 

[FlowerPower]

I'm an early seasons gal so my ships are Giles/Jenny, Buffy/Angel, Willow/Oz, Xander/Cordelia and Spike/Drusilla. Although, I do like things about Xander/Anya and AtS grabbed me with Wesley/Lilah, Wesley/Virginia and Cordelia/Doyle.

I think that most fans' shipping preferences can be grouped in "Early Seasons" vs. "Later Seasons". However, I do think that genre plays a role. Fans who like comedy and bickering can usually get behind Xander/Cordelia *and* Xander/Anya. Fans who like their ships sugary-sweet can't decide between Willow/Oz and Willow/Tara. Intuitively, you'd think that character preferences guide ship preferences and I'm sure that there are fans who say love Xander enough that they're determined to like every woman in his life. However more often in this fandom, adoration of a main character just inspires fierce devotion to one person in their life and condescension to every other romantic partner. This is especially true of Buffy. Many Bangels just hate Riley and Spike. Many Spuffies hate Angel and Riley. Lots of Willow/Tara devotees didn't make much of an effort to like Kennedy for Willow's sake and talk down Willow/Oz as just some little high school aberration that doesn't even mean much with Oz's man-ness.

---------- Post added at 06:26 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:01 AM ----------

As an amendment to my point about "How much does character love influence ships?", I'll say that fans of a character are more likely to be welcoming to different ships if they occur in wildly different stages of the characters development. Many Spike afficionados see no conflict between being a Sprusilla shipper, a Sparmony shipper and a Spuffy shipper so long as it's understood that the ship in question stays in a certain place in Spike's development. Ship Evil!Spike with Drusilla in S2 and enjoy the heck of it in reruns and read fic about it but it has to be understood that this is part of Spike's history. Not the thing that will cause Spike to backslide and not be a good Boyfriend Candidate for Buffy. People who love Cordelia from beginning to end can like Xander/Cordelia for a time when Cordelia was being used for comic relief and then ship Cordelia/Angel for a time when Cordelia was more of a dramatic character.

In this, Buffy kind of suffers. She may go through grouchy periods and happy periods and different hairstyles and fighting weights but fans are always invested in seeing her as the blond intrepid heroine, trying to find a balance between her Slayer life and her normal life, self-sacrificing to the point of martyrdom. So fans of Buffy can have very specific opinions on who fits that version of Buffy as opposed to fans of Cordelia who like romances for stages when she was being a very different person.

 

[dexeded]

Lots of Willow/Tara devotees didn't make much of an effort to like Kennedy for Willow's sake and talk down Willow/Oz as just some little high school aberration that doesn't even mean much with Oz's man-ness.

---------- Post added at 06:26 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:01 AM ----------

As an amendment to my point about "How much does character love influence ships?", I'll say that fans of a character are more likely to be welcoming to different ships if they occur in wildly different stages of the characters development. Many Spike afficionados see no conflict between being a Sprusilla shipper, a Sparmony shipper and a Spuffy shipper so long as it's understood that the ship in question stays in a certain place in Spike's development. Ship Evil!Spike with Drusilla in S2 and enjoy the heck of it in reruns and read fic about it but it has to be understood that this is part of Spike's history. Not the thing that will cause Spike to backslide and not be a good Boyfriend Candidate for Buffy. People who love Cordelia from beginning to end can like Xander/Cordelia for a time when Cordelia was being used for comic relief and then ship Cordelia/Angel for a time when Cordelia was more of a dramatic character.

In this, Buffy kind of suffers. She may go through grouchy periods and happy periods and different hairstyles and fighting weights but fans are always invested in seeing her as the blond intrepid heroine, trying to find a balance between her Slayer life and her normal life, self-sacrificing to the point of martyrdom. So fans of Buffy can have very specific opinions on who fits that version of Buffy as opposed to fans of Cordelia who like romances for stages when she was being a very different person.

Ah, if only I could rep you twice for your additions.