#which is where the 'bad reading comprehension' tag re: bangel shippers came from

[recallthename]

oh god they are many.  so like, key to the discussion is that i (obviously) love unhealthy relationships in fiction and think they can be fun even if they’re not like ~dissected and explored in a healthy way.  sometimes toxicity is fun just itself.  

BUT what i find so obnoxious about bangel (particularly in comparison with spuffy) is that there seems to be this notion that it’s not unhealthy.  that they’re this grand, pure love.  that the fault was in their stars, not themselves.  and i’m just sitting here like “... y’all surprise was literally statutory”.  

it’s like when people read and talk about romeo and juliet as if it’s just a love story.  it’s also a goddamn tragedy.  when buffy says “i loved him more than i will ever love anything in this life” in selfless i actually think she’s being honest.  but that’s not a grand, romantic statement.  it’s because their relationship was deeply unhealthy and codependent.  in that very high school way (even though only one side of it was a high schooler).  when she was with angel she couldn’t stand on her own, neither of them would allow it.  she wasn’t a person she was another half of him.  which i know some people find romantic but i find completely horrifying.  buffy couldn’t be her authentic self when she was with him because the type of love they had didn’t allow it.  

i’m not trying to make this about spuffy, but god compared to them?  where spike is used pretty explicitly as a manifestation of the parts of buffy that she hates about herself?  that their love story requires them to not only live as but love their authentic selves?  as evidenced by the mounds and mounds of parallels in their stories?  GOD.

anyway i think the gist of it is that i find bangel to be a boring and tired kind of unhealthy and the shippers to be incredibly hypocritical.