Angel: Afterlife series background and update
I've got this new Angel fic to post, but it's part of a series that I started literally five years ago, and therefore I feel like I need to provide some sort of background so people will know what the hell I'm talking about.
So here's the deal: once upon a time I had this idea to write a virtual season six for Angel, picking up where "Not Fade Away" left off and sort of rebooting the show. As problematic as season five was, the one thing I loved about it was Angel and Spike bantering and arguing and fighting the good fight and having each other's backs. Yes, Spike's sacrifice in "Chosen" was totally undermined by bringing him back, and yeah, okay, they basically trashed both Spike's and Angel's relationships with the Scoobies by the end of the series. And don't even get me started on the suitification of Gunn and what I can only call The Illyria Problem. Bygones, people.
Regardless, it was my show and I loved it dearly and envisioned it continuing with all the things I loved about it (Angel, Spike) and none of the things I didn't (Gunn, Illyria, Wolfram & Hart). And don't talk to me about After the Fall because that crazy train has no place in my Angel universe. What I wanted was for Angel and Spike to leave L.A. behind them and start over together in a new city as an evil-fighting team, harking back to the salad days of season one. But I needed a girl to throw in the mix. The problem? Most of the potential female leads were, by that point in the canon, totally dead (Cordelia, Fred, Darla) or totally meh (Nina, Gwen, Eve, Justine, Kate).
Which is why I chose Aggie, Lorne's psychic friend who helps him find the portal to Pylea, who, despite appearing in only one scene of one episode ("Over the Rainbow"), managed to intrigue me (an actual psychic who works for a telephone psychic hotline?), amuse me ("You're hiding from the mob?"), and make me want to know her better (let's face it, anyone who's friends with Lorne has to be fairly awesome, right?). Of course, if she was somehow going to end up skipping town with Angel and Spike after NFA, she needed to actually, you know, meet them. Which meant I needed to write a prequel where she meets the whole Fang Gang sometime during season five. And hence my very first Angel fan fic, Curses, was born. Groundwork laid.
So that's my season six idea: Angel, Spike and a snarky psychic living as housemates. Fighting demons. Helping the helpless. And arguing over who was supposed to do the dishes. It's a lot like Being Human in fact, although I started writing it three years before Toby Whithouse's wonderful show hit the airwaves.
To catch you up, here is a summary of the series to date:
Episode 5x12.5 "Curses"
Still-grieving for Cordelia, Angel finds himself the victim of a mysterious curse. The gang worries that Wolfram & Hart may be behind it, so Lorne turns to a friend for help.
Angel: Afterlife
Episode 6x01 "Goodbye, Cruel World"
Angel, Spike, Gunn and Illyria face their final showdown with Wolfram & Hart's demon army, but the absent Lorne's got an ace up his sleeve.
Episode 6x02 "Deep in the Heart"
Angel, Spike and Aggie attempt to leave L.A. behind them, but run into some complications on the road.
And now I present to you, the latest, all new episode:
Episode 6x03 "Lost and Found"
Angel and Spike have a hard time adjusting to their new living arrangements. Can they put their troubles aside long enough to save a missing girl?
So here's the deal: once upon a time I had this idea to write a virtual season six for Angel, picking up where "Not Fade Away" left off and sort of rebooting the show. As problematic as season five was, the one thing I loved about it was Angel and Spike bantering and arguing and fighting the good fight and having each other's backs. Yes, Spike's sacrifice in "Chosen" was totally undermined by bringing him back, and yeah, okay, they basically trashed both Spike's and Angel's relationships with the Scoobies by the end of the series. And don't even get me started on the suitification of Gunn and what I can only call The Illyria Problem. Bygones, people.
Regardless, it was my show and I loved it dearly and envisioned it continuing with all the things I loved about it (Angel, Spike) and none of the things I didn't (Gunn, Illyria, Wolfram & Hart). And don't talk to me about After the Fall because that crazy train has no place in my Angel universe. What I wanted was for Angel and Spike to leave L.A. behind them and start over together in a new city as an evil-fighting team, harking back to the salad days of season one. But I needed a girl to throw in the mix. The problem? Most of the potential female leads were, by that point in the canon, totally dead (Cordelia, Fred, Darla) or totally meh (Nina, Gwen, Eve, Justine, Kate).
Which is why I chose Aggie, Lorne's psychic friend who helps him find the portal to Pylea, who, despite appearing in only one scene of one episode ("Over the Rainbow"), managed to intrigue me (an actual psychic who works for a telephone psychic hotline?), amuse me ("You're hiding from the mob?"), and make me want to know her better (let's face it, anyone who's friends with Lorne has to be fairly awesome, right?). Of course, if she was somehow going to end up skipping town with Angel and Spike after NFA, she needed to actually, you know, meet them. Which meant I needed to write a prequel where she meets the whole Fang Gang sometime during season five. And hence my very first Angel fan fic, Curses, was born. Groundwork laid.
So that's my season six idea: Angel, Spike and a snarky psychic living as housemates. Fighting demons. Helping the helpless. And arguing over who was supposed to do the dishes. It's a lot like Being Human in fact, although I started writing it three years before Toby Whithouse's wonderful show hit the airwaves.
To catch you up, here is a summary of the series to date:
Episode 5x12.5 "Curses"
Still-grieving for Cordelia, Angel finds himself the victim of a mysterious curse. The gang worries that Wolfram & Hart may be behind it, so Lorne turns to a friend for help.
Angel: Afterlife
Episode 6x01 "Goodbye, Cruel World"
Angel, Spike, Gunn and Illyria face their final showdown with Wolfram & Hart's demon army, but the absent Lorne's got an ace up his sleeve.
Episode 6x02 "Deep in the Heart"
Angel, Spike and Aggie attempt to leave L.A. behind them, but run into some complications on the road.
And now I present to you, the latest, all new episode:
Episode 6x03 "Lost and Found"
Angel and Spike have a hard time adjusting to their new living arrangements. Can they put their troubles aside long enough to save a missing girl?