James Marsters - The Fanged Four Appreciation: b/c they are family. Sad but true

Callace · 07-24-2008, 06:17 PM

This is a thread to appreciate the vampire family of Darla, Angelus, Drusilla, and Spike.

Goddess_of_Mischief · 07-25-2008, 02:29 AM

In the same essay I quoted in the Spuffy thread, I thought I'd bring this over here.

Quote:

"That's Why Our Kind Make Such Good Dollies": Vampire Kink in the Buffyverse

[37] Vivien Burr has argued that:

vampire relationships are sadistic and explicitly SM, with violence as a sexual appetizer. But this sexuality is not really being offered to us as a viable choice; it is something only (bad) vampires do. The portrayal of vampire sexuality is therefore a covert confirmation of traditional sexual ideals and mores. ("Ambiguity and Sexuality" 351)

But this reading is mistaken, in much the same way that Buffy is mistaken when she assumes one cannot love without a soul. "Oh, we can, you know," Drusilla assures her. "We can love quite well. If not wisely" (“Crush,” B5014). Dru may be crazy, but she also happens to be quite honest about matters of love and power. Jennifer Stoy correctly describes Darla, Angelus, Spike and Drusilla as "a compelling vision of just how perverse a loving family can be" (226). I would only add that these vampires also show us how loving a perverse family can be. In the Buffyverse, vampire play is highly erotic, and frequently occurs within the framework of compassionate, caring power relations, some of which last for centuries.

[38] Darla and Angelus, for example, played mind games for over a century (“The Trial,” A2009). Sure, he killed her, but she's over that (“First Impressions,” A2003). In the Buffyverse, death is forgivable and frequently erotic; thus, the resurrected human Darla begs Angel for the bite (“Darla,” A2007, “The Trial,” A2009). At the textual level, Darla does this because she is dying of syphilis, but Darla desires more than mere eternal life. Why else would she tie Angel down and make him watch while she nurses blood from Drusilla (A2009)? Apparently this has the desired effect on Angel, who beats Darla senseless before having sex with her in "Reprise" (A2015). The immediate text calls this Angel's moral low point, but the long-term text says otherwise. Yes, their sex was violent, but they both wanted it, and this act initiates Darla's miraculous pregnancy. Darla stakes herself so that her child can be born (“Lullaby,” A3009). Angel names the boy Connor and loves him through the remainder of the series. Darla and Angel share a perverse love, to be sure, but it is a kind of love nonetheless.

[39] Darla and Angel play hard. In general, vampires play much harder than humans. Since they're practically indestructible, play which would be edgy or impossible for humans is standard for vampires. Vampires like to drink each other's blood (“Untouched,” A2004). The more exotic (and exciting) forms of vampire play involve those few things which can kill vampires. Vampires are fond of holy water play, for example (“ Reunion ,” B2010): in small doses, holy water is extremely painful without being lethal. They also enjoy sunlight play (“Destiny,” A5008; an elegant but non-consensual example can be seen in “In the Dark,” A1003). You can even stake a vampire, as long as she's wearing the Gem of Amarra when you do it (“The Harsh Light of Day,” B4003). But the most potent form of vampire play involves that thing which is most deadly to vampires: a Slayer. Spike and Drusilla show us that "the blood of a Slayer is a powerful aphrodisiac" (“Fool for Love,” B5007). Surely Slayer blood is so exciting because getting it is so dangerous. As with human kink, vampire kink derives much of its excitement from the element of risk. Since vampires in the Buffyverse have been known to come back to life after being staked or immolated in a pillar of fire, the level of acceptable risk is remarkably high.

[40] But vamps aren't just about the play. The erotic exchange of power is equally important to them. After Dru dumps Spike, he returns to Sunnydale, where he has a bit of an epiphany and decides to "find her, wherever she is, tie her up, torture her until she likes me again. Love's a funny thing" (“Lovers Walk,” B3008). Here's the really funny part: this is a perfectly sensible way to negotiate with a crazy sadomasochistic vampire. When Drusilla returns in "Crush" (B5014), she once again acts as Spike's Mistress. She tells him he can overcome his chip. When he complains about the searing pain, she tells him it's all in his head: "It tells you you're not a bad dog, but you are." Spike can take the pain for Mistress. The only problem is, he's taking pain for a new Mistress now: Buffy.

[41] All of the Buffyverse's vampire relationships emphasize power, but none do so more effectively than Spike/Angel. Roz Kaveney has correctly noted that "the homoeroticism that many fans have always seen in the relationship…is at the very least closely related to…[the] power dynamic between them" ("A Sense of the Ending" 63). And Spike asks, "how’s that for a perversion?" (“In the Dark,” A1003. In the text, Spike is speaking about Angel's love for Buffy; in the subtext, Spike and another male vampire are preparing to torture Angel's bound body.) Season Five of Angel reveals to us the deep history of Spike/Angel, and thus makes textual the longstanding subtextual power dynamic between them. They began as William/Angelus. Upon meeting William (freshly sired by Drusilla), Angelus immediately thrusts William's arm into the sunlight (“Destiny,” A5008). As he holds his own arm into the searing sunlight, Angelus admits that lately he has begun to wonder what it would be like "to share the slaughter of innocents with another man. Don't think that makes me some kind of a deviant, hmm? Do you?" Clearly William does not, for he thrusts his own arm into the agonizing light once more, in proper masochistic fashion. These direct, physical negotiations establish this relationship as one of consensual power exchange from the beginning. How intimate is that relationship? Well, there was that one. . . (“Power Play,” A5021). But again, it's not about sex, it's about power. Today Spike and Angel are both nominally straight (in a queer, identical all-black wardrobe kind of way). And yet they fall all over themselves to see who gets to drink from the cup of perpetual torment (“Destiny,” A5008). Sure, they say it's all about the prophecy, but that's just a lot of Shanshu: it's clearly a form of play. "Here we are, then," Spike says with masochistic glee. "Two vampire heroes, competing to wet our whistle with a drink of light, refreshing torment." And even if Spike and Angel don't play like they used to, they can still keep each other company as they dash off to Italy in pursuit of their mutual Slayer fetish (“The Girl in Question,” A5020). By the end of Angel, Spike and Angel can almost be honest about what they are: two longstanding members of a kinky vampire community who have always shared power and pain and who, despite their constant textual sniping, clearly need each other and clearly satisfy one another's mutual erotic needs.

Callace · 07-25-2008, 02:54 AM

Wow! you really have been reading tonight, have you

Goddess_of_Mischief · 07-25-2008, 02:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by callace (View Post)

Wow! you really have been reading tonight, have you

I have. You're on,

Did you see what I posted in Spuffy here?

Callace · 07-25-2008, 03:49 AM

Jennifer Stoy correctly describes Darla, Angelus, Spike and Drusilla as "a compelling vision of just how perverse a loving family can be" (226).

that is FF! Indeed!

Goddess_of_Mischief · 07-25-2008, 03:50 AM

Isn't it?

And it even sort of explains, better than I do, how I see the whole family, all four of them.

Callace · 07-25-2008, 03:56 AM

they are beautifully complex in that way

But I didnt quite get this: "You can even stake a vampire, as long as she's wearing the Gem of Amarra when you do it (“The Harsh Light of Day,” B4003)."

Can you? She was gravely hurt by this, and it was a part of her grounds for kicking him out when he needed her.