This won't do.

[rinoared]

You know, I'm the jaded old lady of fandom who's shaking her cane at all the young 'uns, the rascals making racket and ruining the lawn. Although, since we're talking fandom, the young rascals are all covered in glitter gel, their racket is CAPS LOCKED WANK WARS, the lawn suffering from chronic nitrogen deficit thanks to the layer of splooge-

Comments

[fiareynne]

I'm all over Spangelus like white on rice - I mean, it's canon, for Pete's sake - but Spangel just bothers me because no one writes it accurately (that I've seen.) There's something to be said about two people who can't stand each other falling into bed together (my first fandom was Red Dwarf, my first OTP Rimmer/Lister, and if there's a better example of two people who can't stand each other I haven't found it) but two people with over a hundred years of history, during which they were never able to stand one another, and only had sex when neither of them had a soul or any kind of morals? There ain't gonna be any damn fluff to be had there. That said, I can possibly see Spangel H/C, post-NFA - they're both different people now, with more common ground, and they're pretty much all each other has got.

I don't know what makes people hate Wes - it's completely illogical. Yes, when he was on Buffy, he was made to be hated. He was designed that way, carefully crafted and well played, but on Angel he was very much depicted as a sympathetic character, and people who didn't see him that way? I personally think they weren't fucking paying attention.

Wesley is the best friend of the hero, loyal and steadfast, in season one. In season two, he is the discarded best friend, forced to take control of the agency in order to give his other friends hope even though he himself is heartbroken and lost. Season three sees his friendship tried even more when he all but sacrifices his own life to protect his best friend and his best friend's child, and season four Wesley is a man bereft of everything he cares for and yet still somehow managing to fight on the side of good (even if he is screwing one of the mucky-mucks for the side of evil. Man's gotta get his physical contact somewhere, and it's not like the good guys were knocking down his door.) Throughout season five we see a man who, while blissfully ignorant of his transgressions against his best friend, still struggles with "the dark side" within him and is presented with failure after failure, and finally breaks. He also loses that precious ignorance, dearly bought, but even though he's lost everything again, he's still at the ready to fight at the side of that same best friend, that same hero, just as he's always done.

Even someone who's not looking at Wesley through slash-coloured lenses has to admit, if they study the character honestly, that there is no point at which Wesley stops loving Angel. Hates him, perhaps, resents him, probably, but never stops loving him. He's the Lancelot to Angel's Arthur (although without that weird Guinivere thing, because Angel's got a kid to steal his woman for him, thanks so much. Also, I never bought the whole Angel/Cordy thing. It just felt so forced, it made me uncomfortable. When you have to make up a word in a fake demon language to convince your audience that two people should OMG totally be doing it, IT'S NOT WORKING.)

[wesless]

What you said.

Also, I never bought the whole Angel/Cordy thing. It just felt so forced, it made me uncomfortable. When you have to make up a word in a fake demon language to convince your audience that two people should OMG totally be doing it, IT'S NOT WORKING.

And I totally agree.

[rinoared]

Big ole word to everything about Wes. My small additions would be:
BtVS: He was also a comic relief. Girly screams? Pansy behaviour? Uptight Brit stereotype? Damn, he was the definition of comic relief. I'm not sure we were supposed to hate him as much as laugh at him. Whether the laugh was good natured or vicious probably didn't matter anyway.

AtS: The start was pretty much the same as in BtVS. Except that they injected small doses of sympathy for his plight. It's blindingly clear from the start that his bravado and comic behaviour is only skin deep. Besides that, anyone who didn't get that he's not Doyle v. 2.0 and wasn't meant to be was not watching. They even addressed it on the show! What is there to hate after that? The comedy? Heck, maybe it's a sense of humor thing but I still can't see how "don't like that type of comedy" == hate.

And then the later seasons. Anyone who hates him for the decisions he made there should hate pretty much every other character as well, because God knows I've spent many episodes screaming at them to stop being so goddamn dumb. Angel, you know I love you you big lump of vampire, but really. Back to the point: anyone objecting to Wes based on the morally ambiguous season 3-4 happenings were watching the wrong show. Beige Angel, anyone? Hello, Angel the Series might as well be subtitled "Discovering Moral Ambiguity and Pondering the Question of Good and Evil".

As for the Angel/Cordy? I totally agree they messed it up pretty dang well. The most tiny thing that bothered me was that they had Cordy turn blonde. Whether or not it was just Charisma's decision, it still felt like an anvil of "look she's Angel's type now!" and seriously, that and resorting to demon language? Big sigh.

Now You're Welcome: That Angel/Cordy I would buy. She was real, looked gorgeous, and there was actual affection instead of kyrumption.

[wesless]

I agree. That final kiss was the only time it seemed credible. And I cannot stress how firmly I believe that anyone hating Wesley's character is watching the wrong show. He stands for everything the series tries to express, including sometimes making the hard decision, always doing the right thing despite the possible unfavourable consequences, and always standing for what you believe in. Angel is the epitome of hypocrisy (I suppose to highlight that every hero has his faults) whereas Wesley (with many faults of his own that I feel only further strengthen his character) is never fickle. He remains predictable in his actions, if ruthless at times, because you know his ultimate intention is to support Angel's cause. So there.