EW.com are Bangel fans.

[kuda]

EW.com likes to stir things up between shippers.
They are also firmly in the Bangel camp themselves.
I don't say this lightly. They love talking about the
soulmates that Buffy and Angel are. While they
degrade Spike's relationship with Buffy to her
sleeping with him begrudgingly.

popwatch.ew.com/2013/03/25/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-angel-spike-poll/

At the moment I am posting about this Spuffy is leading at 55.65% to Bangels
44.35%. Spuffy was ahead by a larger number yesterday. Someone in the
comment said some voters are clearing their cookies so they can vote more
than once. Might be or might not. There are currently 959 comments. Once
again Bangels are talking rape and ignoring Angel's actions toward Buffy.
The whole whitewash of Angel is alive and well in the Bangels' view of things.

Even Buffy knew that her relationship with Angel wasn't perfect. Her words
in Chosen were "What was the highlight of our relationship? When you broke
up with me or when I killed you?"

Neither relationship was perfect. Each hurt the other. Bangel was a first love
which was between a very young girl who was just beginning to figure out who
she was and a damaged vampire with a soul who was trying to find his
redemption. Angel wandered the earth for a hundred years after being cursed
with his soul for his evil actions. He limited his interactions with humans because
he had a contempt for humans. In "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been" Angel
turns over humans to a Thesulac demon to feast on their fears. He was angry
that the character Judy tells the humans in the hotel that Angel has blood in his
room. They hang Angel in the lobby. So he allows a demon to destroy all of them.
This is echoed in "Reunion" where Angel allows Darla and Drusilla to kill the lawyers
from Wolfram and Hart. This is who Angel is with a soul. He is petty and cruel when
it suits him. If Angel has a need he doesn't care who gets hurt. Buffy doesn't really
know this side of him. I will never forgive him for killing Drogyn, using Lorne to kill
Lindsey or the many times he made choices for Buffy without telling her.

So yes, I'm bitter about Angel and his faithful worshipers who think he can do no
wrong. They focus on Spike without a soul and say he was wrong for Buffy. Yet
Spike was the one there for Buffy when she needed him. He might have been her
dark place, but he was her support when everyone else turned away from her. When
Buffy died to save Dawn, Angel went to a monastery in Sri Lanka. Spike stayed in
Sunnydale to help the Scoobies and protect Dawn.

In "Hearttrob", Angel has a talk with Cordy. He is upset that he is okay and feels he is
betraying Buffy's memory by being okay. He spends a month in a monastery and
gets back to his life in LA.

Angel: "I am okay."Cordy: "Then - what's the problem?"

Angel: "That I'm okay. That losing Buffy didn't kill me. That I could deal with it.
- In all those years - no one ever mattered. Not like she did. - And now she's gone - forever."

Cordy: "And you're still here."
Angel: "Yeah. I just feel like I'm betraying her somehow."

Cordy: "No! If you were a loser, if you were some sick obsessed vampire,

you'd go to a Snod demon, or whatever, and get your heart cut out. But you're
not! You're a living, breathing... Well, living, anyway - good guy, whose still fighting
and trying to help people, and that's not betraying her, that's honoring her."

Angel: "You think?"
Cordy: "I'm Cordelia. I don't think. I know. Okay?"
Cordy gives him a big grin, which draws a small smile in response.
Angel: "Okay."
Cordy: "So - can we get back to work now?"

Angel: "Yeah. Sure. - There's work?"

It also bothers me that Angel gets upset when Buffy is with some.
He reacts badly to her relationship with Riley and Spike. He gets
petty about it. Yet in "The Girl In Question" we find out that Angel
has men following Buffy in Rome. Stalking by proxy. On the plane
to go to Rome, Angel talks about Nina. It goes like this:

ANGEL
Just admit it: You think you're gonna ride in, save the day,
and sweep Buffy off of her—

SPIKE
Like you're not thinking the same thing.

ANGEL
I'm already seeing somebody.

SPIKE
What, dog girl?

ANGEL
Nina's a werewolf, and—

SPIKE
Fido know her boyfriend's flying halfway around the world to visit his ex?

ANGEL
Hey, look, I was gonna call her, and we're just... hangin' out.
She's not my girlfriend.

Angel has relationships with Darla, Cordy, and Nina that he never
tells Buffy about. He has a child with Darla and then signs away
his friends' lives to Wolfram and Hart to protect. He goes to Sunnydale
to give Buffy the amulet that WRH gives him. He doesn't tell her about
his actions, but gives her grief about Spike. When he goes back to be
head of WRH he doesn't tell his friends about Spike having a soul or
his part in closing the Hellmouth.

Bangels ignore Angel's actions and focus on Spike's. Sorry about
the rant, but it just bugs me no end. I don't comment on anyone's
journal when this comes up because it will only lead to harsh feelings
on both sides. It just pisses me off when a site like EW is so bias.
They create a poll and word things to make Angel appear to be a saint
and Spike as trash. That's just wrong.

Comments

[rivertempest.livejournal.com]

I saw that. GOD. WHY???? Why do they do this shit? That is one of the most contentious ship wars in the history of fandom shipping. UGH.

Angel was a dill-weed. He manipulated for fun - did everyone conveniently miss the episode about his past? He was dick BEFORE he was made a vampire, what made people think he would be a fluffy puppy with fangs after getting back a soul? *snorts* Naive.

And, I read one of the comments "after Spike raped Buffy..." o_O What? OMG, he didn't actually rape her. He stopped - it was a distraught moment for both of them; tensions high, feelings mangled, desperation abounds. Rape is about power, the power of the rapist over his victim. If anything, Spike was trying make Buffy feel something for him, not about showing her who had the most power.

Gah. People are screwed up. I voted Spuffy, of course. ;)

<3

[kudagirl.livejournal.com]

The comments were just horrible. One said that Buffy stood watching Spike die in the Hellmouth and laughed at him. WTF?

Yeah, Seeing Red is pointed out all the time. Angel's less than perfect moments are ignored. It's all he was Angelus not Angel. Uh no, Angel did some dick moves with a soul as well. Buffy and Spike had a damaging relationship during season six that led to that moment in SR. Buffy was terrified to admit she had feelings for Spike and that his feelings for her were real. Why? Because if she could love souless Spike and souless Spike could love her that meant Angelus should have loved Buffy as well as Angel did. Since Angelus did his best to torment her before trying to kill her, she couldn't believe that Spike could love her without a soul. After SR, Spike didn't push Buffy anymore about a relationship. He still stood by her and loved her. He didn't use it to get into her pants as Angel claimed. Spike stayed helping after Buffy's death. Angel went about his own life. So who was the real long haul guy? Spike not Angel. Angel had his own agenda.

[debris4spike]

Having re-watched Season 1 I realise that Angel was her schoolgirl crush ... yes we all had them, but most moved on ... either to adult relationships ... or other crushes! But that ist crush is special (mine had the name of Mark!!!).

I hate it when any site or magazine gives a positive spin in what is meant to be an un-biased article.

Spuffy4ever

[kudagirl.livejournal.com]

EW does tend to lean toward Angel most of the time. SFX is more Spike/James friendly. It was a poorly worded article at best. Shame on them.

I get most never truly forget their first love and tend to idolize the romance over the years. I think that is the problem with Angel fans. They never really got over Buffy finding other men in her life. Yet they don't mind that Darla, Cordy and Nina played a role in Angel's life

[debris4spike]

I suppose they all work on the theory that "boys will be boys" when it comes to Angel.

I just hate how 2-faced they all are ... Xanders attempted rape season 1, Dawn throwing Buffy out seaon 7, Willow killing someone .... etc, etc.

To me Spike is a much "bigger" character, because of his flaws ... more to follow, more to love (or hate ... and maybe that's the problem!)

[kudagirl.livejournal.com]

Buffy ignores her friends and family members faults. She lets them guide her actions by how they approve or disapprove of her. Beginning with her father, men she loved broke her heart over and over. She doesn't want to let Spike in because of it. She hides behind her pain and refuses to accept he might be the one to heal her.

[slaymesoftly.livejournal.com]

I saw somewhere that you could vote multiple times, so I did. But maybe the later ones didn't count? Anyway, I keep hoping if they keep having these polls and Spuffy keeps winning, that they may get a clue - but probably not. If they've got a Bangle or two working there, it's always going to be skewed. And I'm not sure I'd trust them not to manipulate the poll either. I mean, it's not like this is a national election or something. There aren't any laws being broken if they "miss" a few votes one way or the other....

[kudagirl.livejournal.com]

In one of the comments, it said if you erased your cookies you could vote more than once. Not really a fair poll of any kind. The site is known as favoring Angel over Spike anyways.

[slaymesoftly.livejournal.com]

Somebody posted on BSV that you could vote more than once. I couldn't tell one way or another - it didn't say I couldn't, and it acted as if I had. I wanted to call them on the Angel bias - just by quoting the last line back to them - but I don't want to "login" and be on a mailing list or whatever, so I couldn't do that.

[kudagirl.livejournal.com]

Several did comment on that last line which was very horrible. I'm always amazed by Bangel fans that make it a real battle to leave any comments that are Spuffy favored.

[slaymesoftly.livejournal.com]

If I cared enough (which I'm not sure I do at this point) I'd fire off an irate letter to the editor of the magazine, pointing out the obvious bias. May do it anyway. Isn't that what old retired people do - send irate letters to organizations? lol

[kudagirl.livejournal.com]

Hee! I doubt they would even admit that they were bias. They would make some remarks and ignore how it sounded.

[spikesjojo.livejournal.com]

I ran a sweep which erased my cookies and I still couldn't vote again!

[spikesjojo.livejournal.com]

From your mouth to god's ear!

I just got back from visiting that site again! I was so pissed off at how the vote article just worshiped Bangel (Should Buffy be paired with her true love Angel?). And now I am reading letters and getting more and more pissed off.

Gonna go read fic - not sure trying to change the minds of idiots is worth the effort.

But I do have to say if my "true love" became evil, killed a few of my friends, set up a hideously awful scene for Giles, tortured Giles, and tried to end the world - I might have a few reservations. But even then, while declaring true love for me, if he went off, slept with another woman repeatedly, had a child, fell in love with still another woman, cut his child's throat and allowed the memories of all his friends to be altered/wiped and didn't tell me any of this when he visited - just acted as if I should never see anyone else - that's kind of a deal breaker.

I am not saying that Buffy and Angel had nothing - obviously they did have something which meant a lot - changed them both - but why can't Bangel shippers give any credit to Spike and Buffy beyond the ar. (And he didn't rape her - he attempted top, got stopped, went and got his soul and burned to death to save her from dying in another apocalypse)

Hell, I don't ship either - but I can see when people are being raving idiots!

Okay - now I am going to read fic! And let my blood pressure ease up!

[kudagirl.livejournal.com]

LOL! Even non shippers can see the hate that Bangel hold for Spuffy. It's kind of sad. I can see Buffy loved Angel. That was very real. Yet, he time after time made choices for her and others that suited him without giving them notice. That bugs me no end.

[spikesjojo.livejournal.com]

That is one of the things I admired about Spike - he was the only person who totally accepted Buffy as the Slayer! I can see why - in season 7 - he was the only one she saw as guarding her back. He never doubted that Buffy was right, that Buffy was capable, and that Buffy knew what she was doing.

Angel tried to help her, but he really started to see her as someone he had to protect and had to make decisions for - and she went along.

[kudagirl.livejournal.com]

Angel and Giles both treated Buffy like she didn't know what she was doing. They questioned her choices and did things behind her back.

Spike fought by her side and supported her. He gave her her strength to be who she could be.

[spikesjojo.livejournal.com]

Agreed - particularly Giles in season 7.

Spike tends to think in archetypes - since Buffy was the epitome of good, wise and capable he knew his spot was watching her back and not in her face. She's the Slayer! That's enough for him. He's even strong enough to know that anything the first wants is bad. And he doesn't lie to her about his jealousy when Angel comes.

[kudagirl.livejournal.com]

Even after he watched Buffy and Angel kiss, Spike doesn't walk away from her. He is angry about it, but I think that was when he accepted that (misguidedly) Buffy still loved Angel above all. He knows he will die in the Hellmouth, but by doing it he will save her and those she cares about. I think that is why they didn't make love that last night, but he knew she needed comfort and support. Then when she said I love you, he didn't believe her. And that is why when he was brought back he didn't seek her out. Instead he chose to stay and fight the good fight even if he never got some pie in sky reward like Angel expected.

[comlodge.livejournal.com]

I followed the link, voted for Spike of course, read some of the comments and surely there were a number there that had not actually watched the show cause they were way off. One thing I did notice is the two photos.
First we have Angel looking all brooding and bad guy and buffy looking all pouty and sulky then we have Spike and Buffy both smiling gloriously and happy. Nuff said - lol.

[kudagirl.livejournal.com]

I noticed that as well. I'm sure a Bangel would say it was due to the spell. I think we know that isn't quite the case. We saw many times during season six and even season seven that Spuffy got along and even laughed. They had good times even during the worst times.

[comlodge.livejournal.com]

I'm sure they would:D Spike always showed more humanity than Angel. It is interesting that JM has said that he always thought it should be Bangel, that Spike was not worthy.

[kudagirl.livejournal.com]

JM's thoughts echo Spike's. Spike never thought he was worthy of Buffy. He believed Angel was the Big Damn Hero so he didn't believe in himself. Having his big sacrifice in the Hellmouth pulled out from under him only to end up in Angel's office made him feel unworthy. The telling thing was how Angel reacted. He didn't tell his friends about Spike getting his soul or his relationship with Buffy. He was petty about all of it. Angel knew Spike was more of a hero than Angel was himself. Angel played on Spike's feelings of being unworthy of Buffy.

[comlodge.livejournal.com]

Yes. That is true. And JM waas Spike - perhaps not so much the killing and all but certainly the charachter the writer's wrote was transformed by JM.

Angel did often act contrary to a good man seeking redemption. Perhaps not to be unexpected as he was not a 'good man' when he was alive whereas William most certainly was.

Angel did voice that thought - Spike was the better man - to Wesley after Destiny I think.

He was petty but then I find most men to be petty and childish on occassion -lol.

[kudagirl.livejournal.com]

Buffy said it to Angel..."What? Are you twelve?" I think it was Gunn that Angel spoke to just after the fight in Destiny. He said Spike won because he wanted it more. Gunn made the remark that it was a fake reward that cup of Mountain Dew. It wasn't the cup that Spike wanted. It was to finally get to say everything that had built up over the years. He was right. Angel beat Spike down so he could feel better about himself. And,yes, most men are like little boys in how petty they can be.