Oh, I loved Spike's development on BtVS, too. But as a Spangel shipper, I admit that I am a little biased towards AtS. *g*
Thanks for reading my fic. I'm glad you liked it! :)
Although what about James? (Presuming Angelus sired him...)
I thought about including James, but decided against it for a few reasons:
(1) It's never made clear that Angelus sired him. Angelus does call James and Elizabeth "children" at one point, but he could just as easily be referring to their relative youth.
(2) James doesn't appear to have the same kind of familial/mentorship relationship with Angelus as Penn or Spike. James' main relationship is with his girlfriend, Elizabeth. Their association with Angelus and Darla could be nothing more than a gang of evildoers who enjoy hanging out together.
3) Unlike Lawson or Penn, who each display some depth of character outside their symbolic roles, James is a pretty one-dimensional subsitute for Spike. He has the epic love going back hundreds of years (à la Spike and Dru). He's broken up about his love being killed (the way Spike--and Angel--are concurrently broken up over Buffy's death). He becomes temporarily invincible, the way Spike did when he had the Gem of Amarra (which is explicitly mentioned in this episode). He fights Angel on a subway, which is where Spike killed his last slayer. The character is even named for the actor who plays Spike! The writers couldn't have Spike trying to kill himself with grief, crying that he just couldn't live without Buffy, because Spike made a promise to stick around and take care of Dawn. So they subsituted a new guy, instead. Even when they're on separate shows, Spike is still a mirror for Angel.
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Thanks for reading my fic. I'm glad you liked it! :)
Although what about James? (Presuming Angelus sired him...)
I thought about including James, but decided against it for a few reasons:
(1) It's never made clear that Angelus sired him. Angelus does call James and Elizabeth "children" at one point, but he could just as easily be referring to their relative youth.
(2) James doesn't appear to have the same kind of familial/mentorship relationship with Angelus as Penn or Spike. James' main relationship is with his girlfriend, Elizabeth. Their association with Angelus and Darla could be nothing more than a gang of evildoers who enjoy hanging out together.
3) Unlike Lawson or Penn, who each display some depth of character outside their symbolic roles, James is a pretty one-dimensional subsitute for Spike. He has the epic love going back hundreds of years (à la Spike and Dru). He's broken up about his love being killed (the way Spike--and Angel--are concurrently broken up over Buffy's death). He becomes temporarily invincible, the way Spike did when he had the Gem of Amarra (which is explicitly mentioned in this episode). He fights Angel on a subway, which is where Spike killed his last slayer. The character is even named for the actor who plays Spike! The writers couldn't have Spike trying to kill himself with grief, crying that he just couldn't live without Buffy, because Spike made a promise to stick around and take care of Dawn. So they subsituted a new guy, instead. Even when they're on separate shows, Spike is still a mirror for Angel.
(4) I'm not sure the actor's eyes are blue. *g*