State of the Ship

["ebailey140" <ebailey140@xxxxxxx>]

Despite what some may think, the S. S. Wiffy seems to be sailing 
pretty well, all things considered.  Keep in mind that this is a 
purely Fanon ship, so it's not going to be as popular as some Canon 
ones in Buffy Fandom (such as Bangel or Spuffy).  It's also a 
Femmeslash ship, which never have quite the following of the het and 
maleslash ships for the simple reason that most fanfic readers and 
writers are women, and het and maleslash is more popular with women, 
hence the glut of Xander Wakes Up Gay fics.  

Add to that that Canon didn't do this ship any favors.  If anything, 
it seemed to go out of it's way since Tara's introduction to downplay 
any potential subtext, or shoot it down, outright, though Marti 
managed to work some old fashioned subtext into Bargaining, anyway.  :)
But, I've noticed that in the Fanficton.net Buffy C2 communities, 
Wiffy Goodness has the largest archive and 4th largest number of 
subscribers (A Fuffy one has the top spot, followed by a Bangel and, 
strangely enough, a Faith/Xander, but Wiffy Goodness has more 
subscribers than the rest, including the top Spuffy community).  
Congrats and great work, Howard.
Many of us have more than one Fandom, and being part of a few others 
has given me a different perspective on this Fandom, in general, and 
this ship, in particular.  One thing I've brought up before here is 
how much modern Buffyfic is crossover.  The BtVS/HP crossovers have 
become so large that they have their own category at FF.net.  I've 
discovered that Wiffy is better known that I'd thought.  Whenever it 
gets mentioned in Potter Fandom during discussions of other Fandoms 
people are into, along with the B/W/X ship, squeeing results.  

Another thing I've noticed is that attitudes of shippers affect how a 
ship is seen.  In Potter Fandom, the Harry/Ginny ship has developed 
the worst of reputations, largely due to the attitudes of it's louder 
supporters towards everyone else.  Being jerks to everybody has driven 
people away.  I can't help but think of the Willow/Tara ship, and the 
attitudes of the Kittens.  But, we did see some of that, here.  I 
remember Wiffy supporters not feeling welcome at Wiffy Dreamverse, and 
there's been periods of major tension even here.  That sort of thing 
does negatively effect whether people stick around after they've 
explored. 

A lot of the negativity seemed to stem from this ship never becoming 
Canon, or reaching the popularity of the top ships like Bangel and 
Spuffy.  There was even a little animosity towards Fuffy, which I 
would think would be what they call in HP Fandom our Sister Ship.  The 
Fuffy subtext in the show didn't hurt Wiffy.  If anything, it helped 
by providing a Canon basis to the arguement that Buffy isn't entirely 
straight.  No need to see Fuffy as The Enemy, especially since some of 
us happily ship both.  Not being Canon never bothered me, because I 
knew, going in, that it would never be, on the show.  But, that's why 
we have fanfic.  It's worth noting that, while not achieving the 
popularity of Bangel or Spuffy, Wiffy IS more popular than quite a few 
Canon ships, including, significantly, Willow/Kennedy.  While W/K does 
have a few supporters among Willow fans, the general consensus is 
Anyone But Kennedy.  Notice how much fic of all stripes there is out 
there that makes a point of separating them as soon as possible.  
Hell, Willow even gets paired with Severus Snape to get her away from 
Kennedy.  :)
Y'know, there's this nice girl Willow knows and loves that happens to 
be single in Canon...  :)
And, it's not like this ship has nothing to work with, post-Chosen.  
The things that did go on between Buffy and Willow during the second 
half of the series, like the Enjoining Spell, the Osiris Spell, and 
that big final one in Chosen have given them a bond no one else can 
touch (Xander could for the first two, but not the last).  I'm 
surprised so little fic touches on that.  If you look at the mythology 
behind the Osiris Spell, well...  This is a classic mythological 
archtype, Isis and Osiris, Goddess Descendinging Into the Underworld, 
the Alchemical Marriage of Sol and Luna.  If we take the myth and 
alchemy literally, one can argue that it's Canon that Buffy and Willow 
are married, and have been for a few years, now.  

They just need to stop sleeping around on each other.  It was 
understandable early on, since Willow was with Tara at the time she 
did that, and then the mourning period after Tara died.  But really, 
she doesn't have any excuses, now.  :)
      


Willow: "It's a good fight, Buffy, and I want in."
Buffy:  "I kinda love you."
                     'Choices'

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