You are Angel (RAR).

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The Romulan Republic
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You are Angel (RAR).

Post by The Romulan Republic »

Since Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the series) just turned 20, I figured I'd do another Buffy RAR. As to why I picked Angel... well, he's the one character who's their from the beginning to the end of the franchise's televised history, has a central role, and, frankly, makes a lot of mistakes that make things worse. So, for this RAR, fate hands you a chance to do better.

Congratulations, you are now a vampire with a soul, but its your soul instead of Angel's. However, the curse is still in effect- if you have a moment of perfect happiness, your soul will be kicked out of Angel's body and back to your old life, and Angel will become Angelus, free to maim, rape, and slaughter his way across the world. All prophecies involving the Vampire with a Soul (Shanshu, those involving Connor) are still in effect, insofar as their accuracy can be relied upon at all.

You start off with Angel having just arrived in Sunnydale.

Edit: A note on Buffyverse prophecies-

Self-fulfilling prophecies are a thing. So are loopholes. The prophecy about Buffy's death in the season one finale, which Giles considered immutable despite his best efforts to find a way to avert it, ended up being both. It prophesied that the Master would rise, and the Slayer would die fighting him. Buffy went to fight him, hoping that she would be able to kill him even if she died in the process, but drinking her blood was what gave him the power to escape. Then Xander revived her with CPR after she technically died, thus both fulfilling and averting the prophecy.
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Re: You are Angel (RAR).

Post by Solauren »

Do we have Angel's memories up to that point, and is his history the same?
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Re: You are Angel (RAR).

Post by The Romulan Republic »

Solauren wrote:Do we have Angel's memories up to that point, and is his history the same?
Yes, to both questions.

Sorry, I should have included that information.
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Re: You are Angel (RAR).

Post by Tribble »

Well I'm a fairly happy guy overall so I guess Angelus will be rampaging around the world pretty quick :P
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Re: You are Angel (RAR).

Post by The Romulan Republic »

Tribble wrote:Well I'm a fairly happy guy overall so I guess Angelus will be rampaging around the world pretty quick :P
Personally, I think that the knowledge that my being perfectly happy would make a lot of other people very, very unhappy would be a fairly effective depressant.

Not to mention that you'll have memories of all of Angelus's prior atrocities.
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Re: You are Angel (RAR).

Post by Tribble »

The Romulan Republic wrote:Personally, I think that the knowledge that my being perfectly happy would make a lot of other people very, very unhappy would be a fairly effective depressant.
Right, but I don't think most people are 100% in control of their emotions 24/7. Plus "a moment of pure happiness" can be pretty broad - didn't Angel lose his soul once by having sex with Buffy? What happens if I have a sexy dream and experience a moment of pure happiness? Or get a job promotion I've been aiming for? Do well in an exam? Meet a new girlfriend? Go on a dream vacation? Well, there goes my soul!
The Romulan Republic wrote:Not to mention that you'll have memories of all of Angelus's prior atrocities.
This would be somewhat offset by the fact that I know I'm not Angelus, and I did not do those things. Sure I'll be bothered by those memories, but I'd know they weren't mine.

If the goal is to keep Angelus out of the picture the logical solution would be to kill him. Does my soul get returned to my body if that happens? If not and my soul moves on to the afterlife, would sacrificing myself to take Angelus out of the picture be a good thing or bad thing as far as the higher ups are concerned?

And speaking of which, what happens to my body in the meantime?
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Re: You are Angel (RAR).

Post by The Romulan Republic »

Tribble wrote:
The Romulan Republic wrote:Personally, I think that the knowledge that my being perfectly happy would make a lot of other people very, very unhappy would be a fairly effective depressant.
Right, but I don't think most people are 100% in control of their emotions 24/7. Plus "a moment of pure happiness" can be pretty broad - didn't Angel lose his soul once by having sex with Buffy? What happens if I have a sexy dream and experience a moment of pure happiness? Or get a job promotion I've been aiming for? Do well in an exam? Meet a new girlfriend? Go on a dream vacation? Well, there goes my soul!
The show is a little fuzzy on it, but just being happy isn't enough. It has to be "perfect happiness", which as Wesley explains on "Angel", is quite rare.

If it were easy, Angelus would have returned much sooner, most likely.
This would be somewhat offset by the fact that I know I'm not Angelus, and I did not do those things. Sure I'll be bothered by those memories, but I know they aren't mine.

If the goal is to keep Angelus out of the picture the logical solution would be to kill him. Does my soul get returned to my body if that happens?

And speaking of which, what happens to my body in the meantime?
Staking yourself, or stepping into the Sunlight, or whatever, is a viable option. Of course, Angel might be resurrected due to prophecy, but we'll say that if you choose this option, then that's it, scenario over, and what comes next isn't your problem.

You get returned to your old life.
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Re: You are Angel (RAR).

Post by Solauren »

Okay, here we go.

Regardless:
#1 - Load up on modern weapons with anti-vampire additions (they have to exist in the Buffyverse). (i.e Wooden Bullets, Silver Bullets)
(Assault Rifle with Scope and Silencer, Compound Bow, Automatic handguns, and a Supersoaker full of holy water, Dart gun loaded with drugs, enough C4 and silver ballbearings to make the explosive vests from Swordfish, etc). Fund this by looting vampires and the like.

#2 - Go talk to Giles, explain who I am, and ask if the Watcher's can alter the curse to remove the 'perfect happiness' stupidity. The demon within me suffers while he's trapped, and me being happy makes it worse for it. (if I can prove I'm not the original soul, great). If not the Watchers, then try to find a way to contact 'the Powers that be' and see if they'll do it instead.

Help out without going 'Vampire Punisher' for a while. That would change once Spike and Dru show up. (Those two are dangerous).

If I have my Memories of the Buffyverse
#3 - Go find the Gem of Amara. it was in a tomb with lots of treasure, so there should be locater spells for that. Once I have it and the weapons, basically become a vampire version of the Punisher (or Deadpool) against Vampires.

#4 - When Jenny calender shows up, confront her, explain my situtation, and see about getting the curse altered. (Especially if I can prove I'm an innocent soul, but want to use the vampire and curse to my advantage)
Regardless, start learning magic myself. Maybe I can alter the curse myself?

#5 - Kill the Mayor with a high powered rifle shot from a distance.

#6 - I can't lose my soul, and I'm unkillable? Why would I leave Sunnydale? If Buffy ever wants kids, we can adopt or get a sperm doner.
hey, we could get really funky, find a Makara demon, use his blood to make me mortal, get the need genetic material from me, controlled situation turn and recurse me (if the curse would even be needed, altering it might make it so I can't lose my soul even if restored to life and then revamped), and put the Gem back on. We get kids, and I'm still unkillable.

#7 - Possibly duplicate the Gem, and once Buffy is about 30, vampire, curse, and gem her. Immortal loves taking on the underworld.

#8 - See if I can get a hold of a Makara demon, keep him secure, and try turning a vampire back to life. Does the restored human get their soul back? If need be look into cursing vampires into having souls, and then restoring them to life.

If I decide to go evil (and my soul is secure to my new body via magic alternation)
wait until Vampire Willow shows up, tranq-dart her, tie her up. Go drug the scoobies, turn the girls, turn the guys and leave them out in the sun, and rule Sunnydale underground as it's unkillable vampire lord and his vampire harem.
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Re: You are Angel (RAR).

Post by Tribble »

The Romulan Republic wrote:Staking yourself, or stepping into the Sunlight, or whatever, is a viable option. Of course, Angel might be resurrected due to prophecy, but we'll say that if you choose this option, then that's it, scenario over, and what comes next isn't your problem.

You get returned to your old life.
Well then I guess it depends on how the Buffy Universe ends. It's been a long time since I watched the series. IIRC the good guys "won" in the sense that they at least kept the world from being turned into another version of hell. Given that it might be better to kill off Angel's body, have him resurrected and let him take over - don't want to potentially mess with timelines and all that, as I could potentially make things worse. IIRC Toronto isn't a Hellmouth so I should be able to avoid the worst of it.

If I did decide to stay on as Angel and throw the dice to see if I could do better, what happens to my body in the meantime? Do I go missing or something?
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Re: You are Angel (RAR).

Post by The Romulan Republic »

Tribble wrote:
The Romulan Republic wrote:Staking yourself, or stepping into the Sunlight, or whatever, is a viable option. Of course, Angel might be resurrected due to prophecy, but we'll say that if you choose this option, then that's it, scenario over, and what comes next isn't your problem.

You get returned to your old life.
Well then I guess it depends on how the Buffy Universe ends. It's been a long time since I watched the series. IIRC the good guys "won" in the sense that they at least kept the world from being turned into another version of hell. Given that it might be better to kill off Angel's body, have him resurrected and let him take over - don't want to potentially mess with timelines and all that, as I could potentially make things worse. IIRC Toronto isn't a Hellmouth so I should be able to avoid the worst of it.
You start out in Sunnydale, at the start of the series, as per the OP.

Of course, you can always say "screw it" and head to alternate Toronto, though that might incur the annoyance of the Powers That Be. Plus prophecy will pretty much ensure that as long as you're in Angel's body, you'll eventually get dragged back into things.

As to the outcome of the series...

In the finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, they defeat the First Evil and destroy the Sunnydale Hellmouth. However, their are other Hellmouths. A year after that, Angel, in his show's finale, launches an attack on Wolfram and Hart (not enough to destroy them, just set back their apocalyptic plans).

The post-series comics have the supernatural now public knowledge.
If I did decide to stay on as Angel and throw the dice to see if I could do better, what happens to my body in the meantime? Do I go missing or something?
When you die, you return to your body at the moment that you left.
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Re: You are Angel (RAR).

Post by The Romulan Republic »

So, my tentative plan, step one:

Staking myself is admittedly tempting here, but it has a few problems.

1. I'm generally anti-suicide, even if in this case I wouldn't really be dying.

2. It would kill Angel. Though since I've replaced him, he's sort of already dead. More dead, that is. ;)

3. Angel is needed for prophecies.

4. Someone might resurrect Angel for the purposes of prophecy (Wolfram and Hart, for one, can resurrect a vampire), but that raises the risk of him being resurrected in Angelus form.

So presuming I decide to play this out, a few actions need to be taken immediately:

First, I need to talk to Jenny. Try to persuade her to help me figure out a way to alter the curse. Also, to vouch for me when I arrange a meeting with Buffy and Giles to fill them in on my having a soul. I then fill in Giles on some of what's coming, as I deem it safe to do so.

Secondly, I need a secure base of operations. Taking over the Factory and/or the mansion where Angelus was based from in season two, if already abandoned at this point, ought to suffice. Or maybe that closed down computer factory that the demon Moloch took over. If not, I may have to actually acquire something valuable and purchase some property (was it ever revealed where Angel got the money for his apartment and blood from, before he opened Angel Investigations?).

This may have to wait until after the Harvest is derailed, though.

Thirdly, Darla (presuming she isn't killed before then). Given the prophecies regarding Connor, it may be fated that we have a child. I'd rather derail those prophecies as thoroughly as possible if I can, since Darla is evil and those prophecies went horribly for pretty much everyone, but failing that, I'm going to try to have Jenny ensoul Darla. At least this way we can skip her dying and being brought back as a Wolfram and Hart puppet, hopefully. Because fuck Wolfram and Hart.

After that, the Mayor dies. He's not invulnerable yet, and while I'd normally try to avoid assassination of a public figure, exposing him would drag a lot of things into the daylight all at once, and he's already lived well past a normal life span and is only alive because of dark magic. I really don't know how easy it'll be for me to get ahold of a gun in California without ID, but Darla had guns and if all else fails, I can go to Giles and borrow a crossbow. I'm presuming vampire senses and reflexes will compensate for my own lack of hand-eye coordination. ;)

After that, I mop up as many of the small players in Sunnydale and the surrounding area as I can. The less malevolent ones get a choice: accept me as Vampire Lord of Sunnydale and follow my rules (mainly no preying on humans, no trying to open the Hellmouth or otherwise end the world), get out and stay out, or die.

On that note, after we deal with Amy's mother, I make sure that if Amy decides to learn magic herself, she at least gets some proper training in using it responsibly in this time line. Giles could handle that, or Jenny.

I'll probably mostly steer clear of LA initially, because I damn well want to be ready before I try throwing down with Wolfram and Hart. But wasn't it around this time that Fred got sent to Pylea? If that hasn't happened yet, I might try to prevent it from happening. Although given that as I understand it, the guy who sent her their making portals is what allowed Lorne to escape to our world, that could cause problems. I don't really want to fuck Lorne over. That's a tricky dilemma.

Also, how early are Gunn and his gang active? Forming an alliance with them might be a good move. Even if its just "Give me a heads up on anything happening in LA, and if something apocalyptic happens, I'll back you up."

The events of "Prophecy Girl" could send things completely off the rails. Its supposedly fated that the Slayer will fight the Master, and die. Its not fated that she will be revived. Which means I need to a) do everything in my power to ensure Buffy survives as per canon, and b) have a backup plan for slaying the Master if she doesn't. The word "flamethrower" comes to mind for the latter, and is certainly preferable to either crossbows (he's fast enough to catch/dodge the bolts) or, God forbid, hand-to-hand. :D For the former... well, I'm wary of it given its demonic origin, but Mohra blood might be an option for a fast-acting cure, if I can get my hands on it. It won't restore a soul, but I'm presuming that the soul doesn't move on immediately, given that Buffy was revived.

Season Two plans to come.

Edit: Also, to be clear, I avoid any romantic involvement with Buffy. Probably try to avoid any romantic involvement at all, to be on the safe side, but in the case of Buffy, she's only sixteen at this point. I always found that relationship creepy as hell (and to be fair, the show often portrayed it deliberately as a very unhealthy one).
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Re: You are Angel (RAR).

Post by FaxModem1 »

Question, what does this mean for the females and gay males in the forum? Are we hardwired into having the attractions, tastes, etc. that a 200 year old vampire has?

Next, can we be cursed in the same way Angel can? I'm reminded of the old man who used spells to steal the bodies of gymrats across the street from his nursing home in an episode of Angel. Or the time the ghost of a dead high schooler possessed Angelus and took control. That's going to be an issue. Especially if Jenny's clan deem my soul as not being right for the punishment of Angelus and want to swap me out for somebody else. Souls can also be put into jars, as shown with Angel's in season 4.

More to come once I have answers on these questions.
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Re: You are Angel (RAR).

Post by The Romulan Republic »

FaxModem1 wrote:Question, what does this mean for the females and gay males in the forum? Are we hardwired into having the attractions, tastes, etc. that a 200 year old vampire has?
I'm going to say that as you retain your personality, in Angel's body, that your preferences remain the same.
Next, can we be cursed in the same way Angel can? I'm reminded of the old man who used spells to steal the bodies of gymrats across the street from his nursing home in an episode of Angel. Or the time the ghost of a dead high schooler possessed Angelus and took control. That's going to be an issue. Especially if Jenny's clan deem my soul as not being right for the punishment of Angelus and want to swap me out for somebody else. Souls can also be put into jars, as shown with Angel's in season 4.

More to come once I have answers on these questions.
I'm going to assume that any spell that worked on canon Angel will work on you.
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Re: You are Angel (RAR).

Post by The Romulan Republic »

A few more notes on my season one plans:

Considering the timeline, I'm fairly sure that Fred is already in Pylea, and Lorne on Earth. So make contact with Lorne. Borrow an idea from The Dresden Files and see if I can have the local powers agree to Lorne's club as Neutral Ground (which it sort of is in canon anyway due to Lorne's attitudes and the non-violence spell). A neutral meeting place for negotiations could be very useful.

A rescue mission for Fred is on the to-do list, but not an absolute top priority.

Also, start training Willow in magic early, but start with small stuff, not a re-ensouling spell, and teach her to use it responsibly if possible. Its a big gamble, because the potential is certainly their for her to go off the rails and try to end the world, but she's the only character on the good side I can think of who I would bet on one on one against an Old One, and since my long-term plans entail fighting Old Ones...

Besides, long-term, I need a back-up for Jenny if I need an ensouling spell done.

Oh, and speaking of people going dark- get a freaking councillor/therapist on my team. Their was that Sunnydale high councillor who died in season three. Maybe I can fill him in on magic and recruit him to provide counselling services to people who've been traumatized by dealing with the supernatural (see Kate Lockley, for example).

And the Gem of Amara. I have mixed feelings about keeping vs. destroying it, but it must not be left just lying around where any random vampire (cough-Spike-cough) could find it. I also have a feeling that having the Gem would be a good status symbol in my plan to become Vampire Lord of Sunnydale (eventually Vampire Lord of California).

Now for Season Two:

The Anointed One (presuming the prophecy involving him cannot be averted outright) gets hunted down and staked as quickly as possible. Ideally as soon as the Master has been dealt with.

Continue to keep a lid on the minor players.

Now... Spike and Drusilla.

This is a tricky one. Spike has huge potential to be a force for good, and Drusilla's visions could be useful too. But they're both dangerous vampires, even ensouled. And being an ensouled vampire is a pretty horrible fate, with a lot of guilt, possibility of falling and being corrupted, and no end in sight.

Still, I'm tempted to ensoul Spike. Drusilla... well, I doubt her psyche could even begin to handle the trauma of being re-ensouled and the accompanying guilt on top of her existing madness, but Spike would probably want her spared at this point.

Honestly, for Dru, if I could... make her human plus a memory-wiping spell. That seems arguably the kindest thing to do.

Oh, and something needs to be done about Ethan Rayne. As an alternative to just killing evil/insane humans, maybe memory-wipe them? But Buffeyverse magic is so dodgy at times.

I suppose I'll also have to take on Eyegon as per canon, unless I can get another vampire on my side to do it or something. Bugger. And, make sure I don't let the bastard escape like it turned out he did in the comics.

Acathla, if still found (it seemed to be a part of the Powers That Bes' plan that Angel would thwart it, if Whistler was telling the truth to Buffy), gets locked away somewhere, presuming I can't destroy him. I wonder if I could contact the guardian of the Deeper Well and get him shoved in their with all the Old Ones? Same for the pieces of the Judge.

Hopefully Oz doesn't get bitten by a werewolf, but if he does, I will hopefully now be in position to provide better security than an improvised cell in a school library. And also for the kid who bit him.

That concludes season two. Season three should be a relative breeze with the Mayor already gone, though I can't count on that due to the butterfly effect, especially since the changes I've made may be drawing attention from the PTBs and Wolfram and Hart and such.

On that note, while I will make a serious effort to derail Jasmine's plans, I have no illusions about being a better schemer than her, and she's heavily tied into the prophecies around Connor as I recall. Which means that I need a plan for killing her that gets around her making anyone who sees her love her.

As I see it, their are three main options:

Blind psychic assassin. Their is at least one of those in the Buffyverse, but they're in Wolfram and Hart's service.

Soulless assassin. Vampire or robot would do it, though the latter is going to be safer and more reliable. Jasmine's power didn't seem to work on vampires other than Angel, so I theorize that she can only do it to the ensouled, though I can't be sure. Still, surely a robot ought to be immune? Unfortunately, the only person I know who can build humanoid robots in canon is that sociopath Warren.

Contact the military people who are in the know about magic and have them shoot a missile at her location. Likely to cause a lot of civilian casualties, though, so only a method of last resort. More on the military when I get to my plans for dealing with the Initiative.

Edit: If all else failed, just point Willow at her. Though that is definitely a last resort, because of the risk of her turning Willow too.
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Re: You are Angel (RAR).

Post by Elheru Aran »

Tribble wrote: IIRC Toronto isn't a Hellmouth so I should be able to avoid the worst of it.
You never know. You might run into Nick Knight. :wink:
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Re: You are Angel (RAR).

Post by Tribble »

Elheru Aran wrote:
Tribble wrote: IIRC Toronto isn't a Hellmouth so I should be able to avoid the worst of it.
You never know. You might run into Nick Knight. :wink:
And to be fair we are stuck with the Maple Leafs..... hmmmmmmm.... maybe Toronto is a Hellmouth after all :P
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Re: You are Angel (RAR).

Post by The Romulan Republic »

Tribble wrote:
Elheru Aran wrote:
Tribble wrote: IIRC Toronto isn't a Hellmouth so I should be able to avoid the worst of it.
You never know. You might run into Nick Knight. :wink:
And to be fair we are stuck with the Maple Leafs..... hmmmmmmm.... maybe Toronto is a Hellmouth after all :P
Then someone must have opened it to let Rob Ford out. :)

Anyway, some additions to my previous plan for season three:

The Cruciamentum: pretty simple- go to Giles, tell him straight up: "Either you come clean or I will." This will derail the test, hopefully without alienating Buffy from Giles too much.

Faith: Presuming that Buffy dies fighting the Master (hopefully temporarily), and that Kendra's death at the hands of Drusilla is averted, then Faith will presumably not be Called. Probably still a good idea to contact her (along with the other Potentials) at some point, however, as she's a Potential and thus a possible target, plus she's stuck in a pretty shitty situation prior to being Called. I'm not sure how or when to best do this, though.

Anya: The events of the "The Wish" will likely be averted, but I don't want to leave Anyanka at large. Fortunately, her pattern is highly predictable. I can likely arrange an ambush and de-power her. From their, I'd try to convince her to work as a consultant for me, maybe. Anya's mercenary enough that she'd probably go for it for a fairly small amount of cash, and she is informed when it comes to demon dimensions.

I'm also wondering how to handle Glory/Dawn. Its entirely possible that the changes my presence would cause in the timeline would negate Dawn's existence. But if not... should I allow Dawn to come into being, or actively try to prevent it?

The obvious answer to Glory is to simply find her in Ben form as soon as possible and kill him, which would have the unfortunate side-effect of negating Dawn's creation. A few problems with this, however:

1. It means murdering a, at this point, mostly innocent person, plus, again, negating Dawn's existence.
2. I have no clue where Ben/Glory lived before coming to Sunnydale.
3. If I ended up running into Glory in Glory form... yeah, that would be bad.

Might try to track down the monks that made Dawn and see about getting my hands on that... what was it called? Dagon sphere?

Now, for season four:

The main issue here is the Initiative. Presuming my actions have not yet caused such large divergences in the timeline that the Initiative isn't created, then it poses a problem I'm not really sure how to address. Short of using some mass-reality-warping spell or something like that, I don't like my chances in a war with the US government. They will always have more men and firepower than me. I suppose that, if the Initiative is as badly-run as in canon, I can just lay low, blend in with the civilian populace, and wait for it to implode and then clean up the pieces. Though that could spiral out of control.

After that, I expect the timeline will have diverged widely enough to make anything but fairly broad plans pointless. Eventually, however, I'm going to need stratagems and tactics to deal with Jasmine, the Powers That Be, Wolfram and Hart, the First, and Glory, as they are all big players who are likely not going anywhere, and who fate may put me on course to conflict with.

The prophecies around Connor mean that I have to consider the possibility of having a child with Darla, one who gets abducted and raised in a particularly vicious hell dimension, and that I have to worry about Holtz showing up and Darla staking herself. This also means that fate (or Jasmine) will likely steer me, and possibly Cordelia and others, towards LA.

I can think of quite a few methods that should derail these prophecies, but most of them negate Connor's existence (though that will likely happen anyway due to butterfly effect), and none of them are certain to actually be permanent, due to the presence of spells that can rewrite reality and resurrect the dead.

Long-term, I'd like to expose the existence of the supernatural, but that's something that should probably be done gradually to prevent utter chaos and panic.
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Re: You are Angel (RAR).

Post by FaxModem1 »

First off, rob some crypts. Sunnydale is awash in gold, treasure, and magical items.

Second, establish a base of operations. As others have said, Angel's place from season 3 seems nice enough. Failing that, Dracula's castle will do. Hire contractors to install a modern day vault and modern security systems. This will be the repository for all the plot items that have been sprinkled throughout Sunnydale over the years.

Third, wear and score the Gem of Amara. No reason to not have it. Though, this is going to take some work.

Fourth, introduce myself to Giles, give Buffy and company all crosses. Without that, we're talking an dead/undead slayer. Explain what I am and what I'm going through. No reason to keep the fact that I'm a human from an alternate dimension secret.

Fifth, Acquire weaponry, both modern and ancient.

Sixth, hang out at the Bronze, find Darla, stake Darla. Yay, I just ensured Jesse made it past the pilot. I don't have Angel's 200 year guilt for stuff I didn't do, but I start cleaning out vampire nests after making a pass at wanting to join their nests. Then proceed to work on the rest of the Master's gang.

Seventh, work with Buffy and company on making Sunnydale safe, let them know what's coming.

Eighth, I don't know, maybe flirt with Larry or Andrew Wells once they're of age?
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Re: You are Angel (RAR).

Post by The Romulan Republic »

My one issue reg. staking Darla is that she is all tied into the prophecies around Connor. Now, it may be futile to try to thwart those, but I'd like to try to at least shift things so we can avoid her getting brought back by Wolfram and Hart, dying, getting turned again, and going on a killing spree.

Which is why I floated the idea of ensouling rather than staking her.

That and if, as per prophecy, I'm fated to sleep with Darla, I'd rather she have a soul.

Edit: Fair point reg. saving Jesse, though. However, if the butterfly effect doesn't take care of that, well, one more fighter at the crypt and they probably wouldn't be able to make off with him. Plus, if I actively helped out more than Angel did in canon at that point, we could pursue into the sewers right away if it came to that.

Buffy failed to save him simply because she was new to town and had too many enemies to deal with at once to keep track of everything.
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"The greatest enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan."-General Von Clauswitz, describing my opinion of Bernie or Busters and third partiers in a nutshell.

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Re: You are Angel (RAR).

Post by The Romulan Republic »

Oh, another point:

I'll probably carry a sword with me a lot more than canon Angel does. Sure, I'll have to get in a beheading stroke to kill a vampire, but there are lots of nasty things in Sunnydale without the specific vampire strengths and vulnerabilities, and besides, even a vampire is going to get slowed down by being impaled, much less having limbs hacked off. And moreover, a sword will give me greater reach, since most vampires fight bare-handed in the canon.

With any luck, Angel's sword-fighting skills will carry over, but if not, I'll be taking regular fencing lessons as soon as possible (if I can't find a fencing school/instructor with night hours, there's always Giles).

Being spotted walking the streets with a sword could be an issue, but stranger things go unremarked upon in Sunnydale, and its not like the Sunnydale PD are likely to be able to apprehend or kill me, since bullets won't kill me and I'm probably strong enough to snap handcuffs and bend prison bars. :D
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"The greatest enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan."-General Von Clauswitz, describing my opinion of Bernie or Busters and third partiers in a nutshell.

I SUPPORT A NATIONAL GENERAL STRIKE TO REMOVE TRUMP FROM OFFICE.
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Re: You are Angel (RAR).

Post by FaxModem1 »

The Romulan Republic wrote:My one issue reg. staking Darla is that she is all tied into the prophecies around Connor. Now, it may be futile to try to thwart those, but I'd like to try to at least shift things so we can avoid her getting brought back by Wolfram and Hart, dying, getting turned again, and going on a killing spree.
Those prophecies require me to sleep with Darla. Seeing as how I'm gay, and we've established that this carries through to this dimension, prophecy averted.
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Re: You are Angel (RAR).

Post by The Romulan Republic »

FaxModem1 wrote:
The Romulan Republic wrote:My one issue reg. staking Darla is that she is all tied into the prophecies around Connor. Now, it may be futile to try to thwart those, but I'd like to try to at least shift things so we can avoid her getting brought back by Wolfram and Hart, dying, getting turned again, and going on a killing spree.
Those prophecies require me to sleep with Darla. Seeing as how I'm gay, and we've established that this carries through to this dimension, prophecy averted.
A fair point, albeit not applicable to me. :wink:

Like I said, though, there are any number of ways to contradict the prophecies. But from what I recall, the prophecies around Connor were probably the most absolute and air-tight in canon, and the Buffyverse has a lot of fairly easily accessible magical ways to undo things that should be absolute.

Not interested in screwing? Possession or mind control magic.

One of the parties involved in the prophecy is dead? Resurrection spell.

Nuclear war wipes everything out? Someone makes a wish to a vengeance demon and creates an alternate reality, or casts a reality-warping spell. :banghead:

So while I would try to scuttle those prophecies (at the very least the parts that involve Jasmine running around), I'm also operating on the assumption that I might not be able to, which leaves me with trying to bend them, to fulfil the immutable criteria in the least harmful ways possible.

I'm also not sure that I'd want to scuttle them completely, because a) it would wipe Connor's existence out, and b) it might mean that nobody offs Sajan. Although both of those are a fair trade for stopping Jasmine, if I can pull it off.
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"The greatest enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan."-General Von Clauswitz, describing my opinion of Bernie or Busters and third partiers in a nutshell.

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Re: You are Angel (RAR).

Post by The Romulan Republic »

It occurs to me that any attempt to thwart the prophecy should be a) very specific, and b) timed to ocure as close to the prophecied even as possible, to give as little time as possible for things to be warped back to their "proper" course.
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"The greatest enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan."-General Von Clauswitz, describing my opinion of Bernie or Busters and third partiers in a nutshell.

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Re: You are Angel (RAR).

Post by FaxModem1 »

The Romulan Republic wrote:It occurs to me that any attempt to thwart the prophecy should be a) very specific, and b) timed to ocure as close to the prophecied even as possible, to give as little time as possible for things to be warped back to their "proper" course.
Example: If Drusilla and Spike are both staked in season 2 of Buffy, as well as Darla being staked in season 1, we end up with W&H having to work extra hard resurrecting all three of them just to ensure Darla is resurrected, then made into a vampire, all on the off-chance that Connor will be born. Moment of pure happiness will also be somewhat hard for me to achieve, so Angelus coming out to play will also be difficult. This will cause so many butterflies that a lot of things are going to change. It's also worth noting that for the majority of season 1 and 2 of Buffy, Angel didn't really seem to do much aside from occasionally watch Buffy's back and enter into a relationship with her.

A pro-active Angel will severely change the stakes.
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Re: You are Angel (RAR).

Post by The Romulan Republic »

I don't think Wolfram and Hart actually intended Connor's birth. They seemed shocked when it happened.

I think they too were played by fate (or Jasmine- she's heavily tied into all of that).

Likewise, it didn't have to be Drusilla who sired Darla- that was just Lindsey trying to twist the knife with Angel.
"I know its easy to be defeatist here because nothing has seemingly reigned Trump in so far. But I will say this: every asshole succeeds until finally, they don't. Again, 18 months before he resigned, Nixon had a sky-high approval rating of 67%. Harvey Weinstein was winning Oscars until one day, he definitely wasn't."-John Oliver

"The greatest enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan."-General Von Clauswitz, describing my opinion of Bernie or Busters and third partiers in a nutshell.

I SUPPORT A NATIONAL GENERAL STRIKE TO REMOVE TRUMP FROM OFFICE.
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