Very interesting, Maggie, and can I also say that after yesterday, it's good to read a piece of meta that doesn't leave me feeling shaken and upset. (It was stupid of me to get so upset, I know, but there it is).
I've never thought Joss hated Spike, btw. I don't think he 'hates' any of the characters he creates/co-creates. That would be incredibly counter-productive. However, though I've often felt that one way to view the Spike/Buffy relationship in season 7 was to see it as Buffy being healed of the trauma her relationship with Angel had caused her (which is not, as you say, to say she couldn't have an entirely different, and better, relationship down the road with Angel now, because she's healed and all), I'm not convinced that's how Joss saw it, or that he saw Spike's relationship with Buffy as being nearly as important to her as it was to him (Spike, I mean). I don't know.
I would be better able to accept your reading if the story had emphatically ended in Chosen, but since Joss has chosen to continue it in some fashion, all the questions remain open. If Spike is never referenced again in season 8, then I fear I must conclude that Joss has already compartmentalised Spike/Buffy as being something that Buffy is 'over' and that no longer has any relevance for her.
I do definitely agree with you, though, that Buffy could never settle down (or however you want to put it) with a 'normal' human partner. It just wouldn't work. We've seen that over and over.
Sorry this isn't very insightful, and with far too much emphasis on the 'shipping element of your post (its smallest component) and not enough of the very interesting exposition on Buffy's nature and character.
no subject
I've never thought Joss hated Spike, btw. I don't think he 'hates' any of the characters he creates/co-creates. That would be incredibly counter-productive. However, though I've often felt that one way to view the Spike/Buffy relationship in season 7 was to see it as Buffy being healed of the trauma her relationship with Angel had caused her (which is not, as you say, to say she couldn't have an entirely different, and better, relationship down the road with Angel now, because she's healed and all), I'm not convinced that's how Joss saw it, or that he saw Spike's relationship with Buffy as being nearly as important to her as it was to him (Spike, I mean). I don't know.
I would be better able to accept your reading if the story had emphatically ended in Chosen, but since Joss has chosen to continue it in some fashion, all the questions remain open. If Spike is never referenced again in season 8, then I fear I must conclude that Joss has already compartmentalised Spike/Buffy as being something that Buffy is 'over' and that no longer has any relevance for her.
I do definitely agree with you, though, that Buffy could never settle down (or however you want to put it) with a 'normal' human partner. It just wouldn't work. We've seen that over and over.
Sorry this isn't very insightful, and with far too much emphasis on the 'shipping element of your post (its smallest component) and not enough of the very interesting exposition on Buffy's nature and character.