The Redemption Wars got really, really nasty at times, but it was one of the most exciting fannish experiences I've had, because for once, huge numbers of people were arguing about more than just who should sleep with who - they were arguing about the nature of good and evil, and the meaning of redemption, and what does a soul mean in the Buffyverse anyway. Which was pretty cool.
omg, the war even has a name :) Sounds like real fun, though. Part of me wishes, I had known the series back then (still don´t know, how I managed to ignore it for so long...deluded stupid me). I thought about the whole soul, no soul, good evil issue more than was probably healthy on my own. Must have been great to discuss it, while the show was still running and every outcome was possible.
I remember not liking the idea of souled Spike too much, when it came up. It somehow seemed to render the things Spike had done for love, denying his evil nature, less special. But then it was nice, how little he changed, compared to Angelus/Angel, turning up a lot of other questions, about their nature. So the soul thing sure has its appeals, but fic-wise I still prefer sans soul redemtionist.
Still interesting, that the shippers were that hostile with each other. Explains why there are (comparatively) few longer S/B/A fics around, though.
Pity, that the whole thing is pretty much dead in canon. Seems unlikely that either of the two will transcend publishers for more than a brief crossover.
David Fury was of this camp. He actually got into arguments with fans about it on a couple of occasions. He really believed that it was wrong to ship S/B, and he also thought that it would be a terrible mistake to make Spike into a good guy, because if Spike could be good without a soul, then that cheapened Angel's struggle.
I just had to check my DVDs to find out, which episodes from the later seasons were written by David Fury. Funny in this context, that it was him, who wrote Destiny in Season 5.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2007-08-01 06:32 pm (UTC)omg, the war even has a name :)
Sounds like real fun, though. Part of me wishes, I had known the series back then (still don´t know, how I managed to ignore it for so long...deluded stupid me).
I thought about the whole soul, no soul, good evil issue more than was probably healthy on my own. Must have been great to discuss it, while the show was still running and every outcome was possible.
I remember not liking the idea of souled Spike too much, when it came up. It somehow seemed to render the things Spike had done for love, denying his evil nature, less special. But then it was nice, how little he changed, compared to Angelus/Angel, turning up a lot of other questions, about their nature.
So the soul thing sure has its appeals, but fic-wise I still prefer sans soul redemtionist.
Still interesting, that the shippers were that hostile with each other. Explains why there are (comparatively) few longer S/B/A fics around, though.
Pity, that the whole thing is pretty much dead in canon. Seems unlikely that either of the two will transcend publishers for more than a brief crossover.
I just had to check my DVDs to find out, which episodes from the later seasons were written by David Fury. Funny in this context, that it was him, who wrote Destiny in Season 5.