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Bad Eggs. A few B/A thoughts...
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ibmiller put it very well in his comment to my previous post:Though sometimes I wonder where the Bangels come from - soulmates? All they did was skate and kiss before he went evil.
Watching the B/A interaction in Bad Eggs, it doesn't scream 'Eternal Love' - what I see is two kids (I know Angel is 200+, but I doubt he's ever been in love before, so I'm going by emotional maturity) who are madly in love. I remember feeling like that. Being completely wrapped up in someone else and thinking that spending every waking minute kissing would be the best possible way of spending my life! :) And it's a wonderful feeling. But it's not eternal love.
Buffy and Angel do very little talking - and are seriously neglectful of what they *should* be doing. The Gorch brothers are sat on the cemetary wall, watching, wondering why the heck Angelus is madly snogging the Slayer. Being so lost in each other, they completely fail to see the warning signs - the 'sex education lesson' is as subtle as a sledge hammer, but Buffy obviously pays no attention. Xander and Cordy are the ones talking, but they're not the ones about to give in to their passion. The negative consequences of sex are to be experienced by Buffy, and it'll be nothing as simple as pregnancy.
See there's a difference between being 'in love' and actual, mature love. That's not to say that one can't develop into the other, but they're not the same.
(I've love to talk about this at length, but sadly that RL thing is intruding again. Blah. Thoughts? Comments?)
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If Angel and Buffy had a long term relationship - free of the loss-of-soul disaster - I believe things wouldn't work out at all. Angel is just very dominant. Sure, he wants to protect Buffy from harm, but to do so he takes her choices away which is not fair to her at all. Add to this that Buffy is strong willed and full of spirit. So I think that eventually they would start arguing frequently.
I also think they are so in love they don't really see one another at all. They conveniently overlook their character flaws.
Nevertheless, Angel is Buffy's first love - a tragic and forbidden love, too, which makes her feelings even more intense. So for her, he will always be very special and uber-special. Whenever she thinks back to him in later seasons, she appears to still overlook his flaws. (Need to watch the end of season 7 yet, of course.)
Now if they met again after ATS has ended, I could see them build a new relationship. They both had to accept though that they have grown and changed - and were never that wonderfully perfect in the first place. They would have to look beyond the blissful haze of first love.
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See I remember very clearly when I first met Darcy - and I thought that it must be impossible to disagree on anything, even though I knew we probably would, down the line somewhere. And we do - frequently.
Buffy and Angel never reached that stage (except when breaking up), and that's what makes the whole thing so unreal. Buffy and Spike *always* argued, but when it matters they back each other up. And Spike loves Buffy in spite of - or maybe even because of - her flaws. Whereas I don't think that Angel is even aware of them...
They would have to look beyond the blissful haze of first love.
Exactly. Their love was very easy, because they never had to work at it. I'm not sure where you are in S7, but Buffy has to work very hard when it comes to Spike - nothing is easy.
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Oh yes, I also thought my Mr T was basically perfect and that it was more or less my fault when we had problems. :-) Nowadays, I see things a lot more realistically. Love as I define it means that you know the flaws of your partner - and you deal with them. :-) There are times, when I love him for his flaws and there are times when I just want to kick him. When it matters, I would always back him up, though.
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And if they won't go away - learn to accept them! Which might take the rest of your life, but that's what makes it interesting! *g*
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I think love plays a big part in the nature of good.
But of course - God is love. (Not the other way round though!)
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I did like their kisses in What's My Line, Ted, Bad Eggs, early morning scene in Surprise, but the build-up before then sucked.
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I still say, that if the curse hadn't been there, they would have broken up within a month and Buffy would have long been over Angel. Mostly because they are far far too alike to be a good couple.
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Oh, the randomness.
Anyway, the point of my self-indulgent references is that I think that season three, while a bit melodramatic, is no more so than any other season of Buffy - and I enjoyed Buffy and Angel's love in that season. His speech to her in "Helpless," though not as touching as Spike's in "Touched," is a nice look at why, not just that they fell in love.
Am very curious how you think Buffy and Angel are too alike. The only thing I can think of is that they both tend to be generally altruistic (as opposed to Spike, who is personally loyal - though Buffy does show those tendencies where Angel doesn't). I think of Buffy as a much more in-the-moment, energetic, active, passionate person, while Angel is much more introspective, alone, and intellectual (not intelligent, intellectual. It's a bent, not a measure of ability). However, I would love to hear your ideas about their commonalities.
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Bwah! I *love* how you write - your thoughts seem to have the same pattern mine do!
Am very curious how you think Buffy and Angel are too alike.
Well... they both have a need to be in charge, to be the hero. (See IWRY and notice how Angel cannot cope with being #2.) They both cut themselves off emotionally when things get though, and shut down completely when it gets too much. They increasingly put each other on pedestals (esp in later years. What would Buffy say if she knew that Angel had just been sleeping with Darla to try to lose his soul when he comes to comfort her in 'Forever').
I'm not saying that these are impossible obstacles to overcome, but I have no idea if they could function as a normal couple.
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Normal couple? Buffy ain't not normal. So why do we want her to be a normal half of a normal couple? Superpowered boyfriends all the way! Er, Spike, that is.
And the icon is wonderful. "Dear Diary, last night I made Angel happy and he killed a bunch of people. Is my makeup running? I'm so unhappy." Very funny.
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Neither do I particularly - or at least not anymore. Considering what Angel was doing in AtS S5 I'm not sure Buffy would ever be able to agree with what he was doing. Which is where their different approaches to heroism comes into play. (But that could fill an entire essay so I'm not going to start talking about that now!)
Normal couple?
Argh! I didn't mean it like that! *hits self over the head* Buffy and Angel dated for a while, with the smooches and all that. Not much talking. Then he went evil. When S3 comes round they have that on-again-off-again thing going, where they're breaking up without discussing anything (Buffy in 'Lovers Walk', Angel in 'The Prom' - I think). When he becomes human in IWRY they have lots of sex and then he goes and makes a deal without even mentioning it to her until the last minute. At no point do they have an actual, real relationship, with arguments and daily problems etc. There's a hint in S3, but not more. I have no idea how they would cope if Angel actually got his shanshu and they just had to live together day in and day out. Spike and Buffy would argue like mad in a situation like that (and possibly throw furniture out the window etc), then they'd make up and be fine. Tey're good at arguing and coming to a mutually acceptable solution. Buffy and Angel - not so much.
Does that explain it? *collapses*
(The icon is by
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