More on Angel (spoilers)

Because now I've had time to think.
( (Character) Spoilers for 'Conviction', the first episode of Season Five Angel )

Who cares about vampires?

Well, I never did until Buffy.

I was a Sci-Fi/Fantasy baby. Raised on the stuff by parents who were very into it. I may have mentioned this before, but mom and dad were part of D&D groups when my brother and I were young, and they'd let us play sometimes. Of course, we always got to have amazing characters because we were kids and they wanted us to have fun. Unrealistically powerful characters.

But vampires were never my thing. Actually, I was never into the 'classics'. My brother was... is. He likes classical music and classical monsters.

I pretty much pegged vampires as a metaphor for sexual repression and went on with my life. Then came Buffy. Now, the first episode I saw didn't have any vampires at all in it (The Pack), but that definitely changed as I watched the rest of the season. And Joss' vampires were different. I really enjoyed the vamp face concept, as well as the whole 'soulless demon' aspect. Felt like it had more to say about people.

Love Joss Whedon's version of vampires. I can take them seriously in a way that I've never been able to take any other vampires. They feel real, for lack of a better word.

They aren't just people with bloodlust. They aren't just inexplicably evil. They're a twisted version of their human self with a demon in place of a soul. And I find that fascinating. I like having a reason. I like that being vamped affects some more than others. Everything we learn about Joss' vampires intrigues me and makes me want to learn more.

Also, personal fanwank - why don't more vamps use guns (Darla being the only one we see)? Because the demon likes the death to be personal. Like the assassins in Discworld - it doesn't count until it's up close. The demon likes to feel the life escape their victims and only a vampire with extreme control, like Darla, can overcome that instinct.

*fangirls Darla*

I love how who the vampire is comes directly from who the human was and I adore how they get twisted. And how the most evil vampires tend to be the humans who were unhappiest with themselves in life. That feels real - they get to remake themselves as Big and Bad. It makes sense that Evil!Willow was a lot like Vampire!Willow - both of them were pushing away that weak nerd that they'd always despised.

Buffy made me care about vampires. So that's a cool thing.

Buffy&Angel Icons

Want, Comment, Have.

First, three Buffy icons.


<-taken

( 8 'Angel' icons, minor visual spoilers for Conviction and Just Rewards )