A lot of how comfortable I am with the use of Anya-leaving opening moves in a typical Spanderfic (given that the writer has to do something about Anya regardless) depends upon context.
If the the fic is set somewhere in the Season Four/early Season Five timeframe (before "Triangle," say, or maybe "The Replacement") then I can buy it for the purposes at hand, since at that point the Xander/Anya relationship was still in its formative stages, and could conceiveably have tipped another way under circumstances different from canon. Also, at that point the series atmosphere was not as dark as it became in late Season Five/Season Six, and a more-or-less ordinary breakup (of the kind that can be relegated to a few sentences' worth of backstory before moving on to more interesting matters) doesn't really clash with the overall decor.
At any point after the later episodes of Season Five, however, and especially after "The Gift", a Xander/Anya breakup -- being the dissolution of an officially recognized series relationship, complete with shared living quarters and the other perks and responsibilities of cohabitation -- requires a lot more work and careful handling.
Not surprisingly, the best of the lighter Spanderfics (in my opinion, anyhow) tend to cluster in the Season Four/Early Five timeframe, while the later seasons are better for the angst.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2004-08-24 03:06 pm (UTC)If the the fic is set somewhere in the Season Four/early Season Five timeframe (before "Triangle," say, or maybe "The Replacement") then I can buy it for the purposes at hand, since at that point the Xander/Anya relationship was still in its formative stages, and could conceiveably have tipped another way under circumstances different from canon. Also, at that point the series atmosphere was not as dark as it became in late Season Five/Season Six, and a more-or-less ordinary breakup (of the kind that can be relegated to a few sentences' worth of backstory before moving on to more interesting matters) doesn't really clash with the overall decor.
At any point after the later episodes of Season Five, however, and especially after "The Gift", a Xander/Anya breakup -- being the dissolution of an officially recognized series relationship, complete with shared living quarters and the other perks and responsibilities of cohabitation -- requires a lot more work and careful handling.
Not surprisingly, the best of the lighter Spanderfics (in my opinion, anyhow) tend to cluster in the Season Four/Early Five timeframe, while the later seasons are better for the angst.