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

[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

[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....

[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!

[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.