I was listening to a song called "Cruel To Be Kind" by Letters to
Cleo earlier today. The song popped back into my mind in mid-ramble with Ryoko,
regarding Angelus in Season Two of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and his
treatment of Spike.
I must preface this prospectus by stating that I am a completely biased Angel(us)/Spike
'shipper. The only other person I can see either of them with is Willow, though
I'm not exactly ruling out a threesome with the three of them either. I don't
have a preference between Angel and Angelus. I just like the pairing best of any
of the possible ones from the series.
So, moving on to my prospectus...
As I stated earlier, I was listening to Letters to Cleo's "Cruel to be
Kind". A few hours later, I watched Angel and began discussing Season Two
Angelus with Ryoko. It's been a dissenting point for me, seeing the way Angelus
treated Spike way back in the second season of Buffy. His entire cruelty when he
returned didn't quite seem to mesh with the Angelus we see in the flashbacks.
Yes, that Angelus was a demon and a bastard, but he wasn't the sadistic bastard
he was when he returned.
Then suddenly, I had an epiphany. Angelus had been imprisoned within Angel for
100 years, give or take a bit. Throughout seasons one and two, we've seen how
other vampires look down on Angel. He's so far below their standards that even
humans (as food) are higher. But when Angelus came back, well, it was time to
reclaim what was his, pretty much by right. Remember, Order of Aurelius,
grandchilde of the Master (I mean, the Fruit Bat... I mean, the Master), etc.
To claim first Sunnydale and then the world, Angelus would have had to do
everything in his rather considerable power to cast of the meek, sweet, "I
wouldn't hurt a fly" image that had been thrust on him by Angel. So,
honestly, to completely destroy that image, he'd have to be the most
unimaginable bastard ever. He would have to try to kill the Slayer that killed
his grandsire. He would have to do what every demon fantasizes about and take
the entire human world into hell.
And Angelus was exactly the kind of vampire to go all out on a goal once he made
one. He had to be everything Angel wasn't, and he would be sure to do it
thoroughly. He would stalk the Slayer's friends. He would torture the Slayer's
Watcher. He would sacrifice or destroy any minion that was either no longer
useful or no longer completely loyal. He would be an utter asshole to his
Childer.
Then I noticed something else. Every time we see Angelus mouthing off to Spike,
especially with derogatory nicknames like "Sit and Spin", there is
always someone else around. Usually it's just Drusilla, but sometimes there are
minions around. We never see just Angelus and Spike, we never see how they
behave in private.
So... Food for thought... whoever says Angelus is always a complete asshole the
entire time he's first resurrected? Now, granted, I doubt he'd tell Spike what
was going on, why he'd be a loving Sire (and yes, I completely discount Spike's
little tale to Buffy about Dru being his Sire, as well as the episode a week
prior to Thanksgiving, despite the lovely eyecandy [Angelus copping a feel on
young William]. I still go by what he said in the second season [Angelus was his
Sire] and what the Watcher Diaries say about him [he's close to 200]) in bed
when they're alone and an unmitigated jerk the rest of the time. The
repercussions of that could be fun to fic out.
If you want to borrow anything from this prospectus, please e-mail
me or leave a comment.
Thank you for reading.
First Draft: 13 November 2003
Revision: 2 December 2003