elisi: River runs deep (Angel - river runs deep by miz_thang88)
elisi ([personal profile] elisi) wrote2012-02-11 03:16 pm
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The Father Will Kill the Son.

Thanks to Kiki_May and [livejournal.com profile] promethia_tenk I went and hunted down a vid I remembered, but had lost. And I've been flailing ever since and now need to share it with you, since it's possible you don't know it...

Ruiner by [livejournal.com profile] danegen. Summary: Angel, Spike, Connor (daddy issues)

I can't say anything other than WATCH IT! It's brilliantly edited and the visual parallels will FLOOR you. Also... Angel. Damn. To quote Promethia:

But then, AtS just gets my vote all over for taking a hockey stick to the shins of the hero narrative and leaving it on its back, wondering what happened.

Which we've known from the beginning, actually (esp if you count 'Amends' as the first AtS episode. Which I do):

“It’s not the demon in me that needs killing, it’s the man.”

Or, to quote Philip Larkin:

They fuck you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.

But they were fucked up in their turn
By fools in old-style hats and coats,
Who half the time were soppy-stern
And half at one another's throats.

Man hands on misery to man.
It deepens like a coastal shelf.
Get out as early as you can,
And don't have any kids yourself.

So in conclusion: Watch the vid. SO GOOD!

[identity profile] kita0610.livejournal.com 2012-02-11 06:53 pm (UTC)(link)
I watched it years ago, but I never saved it.

Thank you for the link. Just watched it again. It's fucking brilliant. Sometimes I forget how violent that show was. How much love was equated with violence, and how Angel et al continue to conflate the two. Such a fucked up dynamic, and this vid captures the perpetuation of it just *perfectly*.

Joss insisted Angel and Spike had a big brother/little brother dynamic, but he's so wrong. That shit is father/son all the way to the wall.

[identity profile] kita0610.livejournal.com 2012-02-11 07:24 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm not following that Mark guy. I'm not remotely interested in a dude's interpretation of my show.

I'm not sure if I ever read your meta? But that ep was just. Jesus. Angel was there because *Spike* was there. There's no other way to interpret that.

Throughout both series it's canonical that Angel has feelings for all the vamps he made- either by teeth or lessons- and it doesn't end. He won't kill Spike or Dru even though he *knows* they're going to try and kill him. He won't let Buffy stake Spike. He has dreams about Penn. He doesn't want to kill Spike when he comes back from the dead. He takes a stake for Spike in the Illyria AU.

And Spike clearly has feelings back for Angelus (no more soul? this is great! and the *giggling*, dear god, the *giggling*) although what he feels for Angel is mostly negative (albeit sexual and very very confused) until S5 AtS as far as I can tell. Things change around "Damage", when Spike finally gets a glimpse of how Angel sees things wrt their past. And in the comics Joss wrote, Spike is willing, almost eager, to turn a human Angel rather than let him die, which horrifies Connor.

*sigh*

OTP forever.

[identity profile] kita0610.livejournal.com 2012-02-11 08:07 pm (UTC)(link)
I SO agree about Darla- she's the wild card, the Mommy figure in all those glorious fucked up Daddy issues. Without her, the dynamic is completely different. And I stand by my assessment that Angel NEVER would have killed her either, if she hadn't threatened Buffy directly. The things vampires do for Slayer-love. *G*

[personal profile] kikimay 2012-02-11 10:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks to you! Now I have a nice new vid.
Uhm ... in some ways I think Joss is right: Angel is like a big brother ("been there, done that") for Spike but, as brothers usually do, the role can be easily reversed (the little brother protecs the older, for example) Kinda fits with my idea of OTP FOREVAH! *^*

[personal profile] kikimay 2012-02-11 10:49 pm (UTC)(link)
But, of course, father and son will be more appropriate. I always think that "erastes" and "eromenos" are perfect for them. The terms are greek, meaning "lover" and "loved" and fits perfectly with both Angelus' and Spike's roles. Gah, still OTP!

[personal profile] kikimay 2012-02-11 10:56 pm (UTC)(link)
Yay! They have a complicated relationship! XD
I'm thinking about brothers and ... Angel and Lindsey, absolutely! They're just like brothers sometimes! XD

[personal profile] kikimay 2012-02-11 11:25 pm (UTC)(link)
I wrote a Spangel with 46 chapters. This story seems to me pretty short XD I'm gonna read it, at soon as possible!

[personal profile] kikimay 2012-02-11 11:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Your icon is cute! And brooding! *w*

[personal profile] kikimay 2012-02-11 11:36 pm (UTC)(link)
I don't think so! Awh, this fic have chapters SO long? I have to reconsider my opinion! But I'm a good reader, I like long stories! *w*

[personal profile] kikimay 2012-02-11 11:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you for the link!
I'm used to read in english (even if, writing, I always do a lot of mistakes >*<) and will be my pleasure! I wish I could share also my fics, because you all like spangel so much and it's great! It's like a spangel paradise!

[personal profile] kikimay 2012-02-11 11:56 pm (UTC)(link)
*pets her* But still, spangel love! <3

[identity profile] urb-banal.livejournal.com 2012-02-12 01:59 pm (UTC)(link)
I think that older brother, younger brother thing can be as complex and f**ked up as father/son, especially if the younger feels the older is the only father figure he has.