Buffy and Xander in S7

[SES SA]

Would you have liked to see Xander and Buffy together in S7?
No. Having said that I am not sure what I would have liked out of season 7. Other than it was not what I got.

Do you think they would have been a viable couple in this season?
Viable in terms of to fans? Maybe to some. I have never really seen them as something that most people wanted to see romantically. Viable in terms of a long-term relationship? Xander did leave fiance at the alter. Do you ever really trust a guy after you see that? And Buffy was going to kill his ex that season. There are issues to be sure. The main thing he has going for him is that he is mortal. Not often getting wrinkly and old can be seen as a good thing.

Do you think it would have been better than Spuffy?
I am not a fan of either.

 

[nightshade]

Would you have liked to see Xander and Buffy together in S7?

I don't think so, I think the season was chaotic enough as it was

Do you think they would have been a viable couple in this season?

I think Xander had moved on from Buffy, maybe not completely but enough that it would be a regression in his character to be with her

Do you think it would have been better than Spuffy?

Yes, but I don't think Buffy needed to be with anyone that season

 

[punchkicker15]

Would you have liked to see Xander and Buffy together in S7?

No. There's a trope in American media where the Average Guy is in really into his Dream Girl, who initially isn't interested but is gradually won over. I find that trope pretty tedious, and it's everywhere. I greatly prefer the story we got, where the Average Guy eventually accepts that Dream Girl isn't into him, remains friends with her, and both Average Guy and Dream Girl have important relationships with other people.

Do you think they would have been a viable couple in this season?

This is hard for me to answer, because I write a lot of fanfic with canonically-improbable pairings, so almost any pairing seems at least theoretically viable to me.

Whether the pairing would be viable or not, it would have weakened S7 for me. I think one of the best episodes of the season is Selfless, and I would have hated for the episode to be tainted with the question of "Is Buffy trying to kill Anya because she wants to get into Xander's pants?" Or "Did Xander bring up Angel in the argument with Buffy because he's still jealous of Buffy's love for Angel?" I think it's a much more interesting conflict if it's an argument between two friends over Buffy's slaying tactics, rather than some tired old love triangle tropes. Same with Anya's post-Selfless hostility to Buffy.

Do you think it would have been better than Spuffy?

I have a hard time imagining that. S7 Spuffy wasn't perfect, but it was a compelling combination of storytelling and character arcs. It's hard for me to see how this Buffy/Xander could match that, and what little Bander fanfic I've read hasn't convinced me that there's a grand plot or character arc in there. (I now sort of have a weird compulsion to see if I could write late-season 7 fic where Bander is end-game, but everyone makes the same antagonizing decisions as they did in canon, like Buffy abandoning Xander at the hospital after the eye thing, and Xander siding with the kick-her-out side in Empty Places. My brain is weird.).