And it wasn't, in fact, what was shown in S7, unless William and Spike happened to be a lot more alike than flashbacks showed.
Thinking about that, I fanwanked that it had to do with the sort of people they were before they were bitten:
While Liam's relatively willful and contrary soul was able to put up a good fight and assume dominance over the demon within except when he was in the throes of extreme despair or lust, William's soul was too weak and used to being submissive to take over fully except for a few early bouts of weepy cross climbing. Thus, the demon was the dominant component of that gestalt and Spike's personality didn't undergo the sort of radical change post-ensouling that Angel's did.
I'd buy that for....whatever you're selling it for.
hmmm. Well, if my thesis advisor is done with it....
William's soul was too weak and used to being submissive to take over fully except for a few early bouts of weepy cross
Before I'd processed what I was reading, my brain decided that the next word was "dressing."
I like that idea so much more than what we saw.
It might have spared us Buffy mooning about him in Season 7.
William's soul was too weak and used to being submissive to take over fully except for a few early bouts of weepy cross climbing.
And, of course, one final poetry slam for old time's sake. That still makes me chuckle, though I'm sure it was as much the company I saw the Angel finale with as anything else.
And, of course, one final poetry slam for old time's sake. That still makes me chuckle, though I'm sure it was as much the company I saw the Angel finale with as anything else.
One imagines ...
William's soul was too weak and used to being submissive to take over fully except for a few early bouts of weepy cross climbing.
I think I disagree. On a number of counts, really. First off, I'm not entirely sure that the soul only equals the conscience, although I'd agree that's the clearest manifestation.
One of two things pretty much have to be true: Angel's early explanations on what happens when a person's vamped are somewhat erroneous, and that a vampire is more of the original person and less demon walking around as that person than he gives credit to, or it's more-or-less exactly what he says. Which makes the case of Spike ... interesting.
Because Spike with or without a soul is pretty much the same guy. And indeed, as far back as Season Two, The Judge says that he has "the stink of humanity" on him.
Frankly, I think William was a stronger person than anyone, himself included, gave him credit for. Sure, he was a bit of a ponce, and a bloody awful poet, but he loved deeply and unconditionally, and that affection burned into him, even when he became a vampire. I think, free from doubts and insecurities, -- and, of course, conscience -- William's personality was remarkably strong, enough to make him largely anomalous among vampires, and strong enough that, when he gets his soul back, he doesn't suffer the drastic personality shift Angel does.
It probably doesn't hurt that Spike seeks out his soul on his own, as opposed to having it forced back into him. That probably makes the transition a little bit easier. But yeah, I fully believe (and we've seen enough evidence) that Spike and Angel both have a human soul and a demon in their heads, but William's personality was always stronger than Liam's, and held a lot more sway over the vampire persona than Liam ever did.
Somewhere I have long copious notes on a method of differentiating the various types of vampires in BVS. Victor has it in a nutshell.
Some of the beast-like vamps are basically low in both human and vamp soul. Neither is dominant, so their behavior falls to instinct.
