Sleeping with Darla

[itsnotmymind]

I was reading links in the su_herald when I came across this, a debate wbout whether Angel and Darla had sex in the episode Angel. My first instinct was to side with those who said no, because if Angel had slept with Darla souled, both of them would have known in Reprise that sleeping with her would not cause him to lose his soul.

Then I realized something: Per AtS season 2, Angel went back to Darla after he initially gained his soul, and stayed with her for awhlie. It seems hard to believe that they never had sex during that period.

I still don't think they had sex in Angel the episode - but why did they assume in Reprise that sleeping together would lose Angel his soul?

Comments

[honeymink]

I haven't watched it for a while but from what I remember the caveat of the curse was that Angel could never experience true happiness, as it would result in the removal of his soul. I think when Angel went back to Darla after he gained his soul he was lost and tried to pick up where he left off, but obviously with the soul he couldn't justify the killing as we see in the Boxer Rebellion episode (again long time, not sure if I remember that correctly). So yes, I think it's totally reasonable to think that they would have slept together. Especially since I imagine that in a way he needed the comfort of the familiar but that's not enough to experience true happiness especially when your partner has expectations of you that you can no longer fulfil.

As for "Reprise" -- yes, I found that odd. From what I remember Angel was in an extremely unhappy place with his friends and killing that senior W&H partner, so wasn't his inclination when he slept with Darla to just feel anything. Perhaps the worry was that the tiniest bit a good feeling would tip the balance when he was otherwise so desperate. I don't know. But it definitely is not true to the premise of the curse.

[itsnotmymind.livejournal.com]

Yep, people sometimes make the mistake of thinking Angel losing his soul was about sex, when it was actually about the happiness caused by having sex with the right person.

I'm trying to remember if we know for sure that Angel thought the Reprise sex would lose him his soul - although Darla definitely thought it would.

Actually, I just remembered this exchange between Angel and Darla in Dear Boy, and checked the transcript:

Darla: You can escape it all. Remember what it was like to get lost, huh? Every thought a million miles away, every part of you being alive! All you have to do is let me give you one little moment of happiness.
Angel: You took me places, showed me things, huh? You blew the top off my head. But you never made me happy.
Darla: But that - that cheerleader did? We were together 150 years! We shared everything. You're saying - never?
Angel: You couldn't understand.
Darla: I understand alright. Guy gets taste of something fresh and he thinks he's touching god.
Angel: It wasn't about...
Darla: Oh, you bet your ass it was! There was a time, in the early years, when you would have said I was the definition of bliss! - Buffy wasn't happiness. - She was just new!
Angel: You know - you are getting awfully bent over this, Darla.

So maybe Darla in Reprise was just in denial about the extent of her ability to make Angel experience true happiness.

[honeymink]

I think it depends on the definition of happiness – personally I always thought it was a feeling of intimacy that Buffy and Angel shared when they had sex that made him feel safe, secure and loved, and therefore truly forget his guilt for a moment. That's when he lost his soul. And there goes part of my headcanon I guess that this is part of the cruelty of the curse that once he has found something so precious he will want to reciprocate in kind but can't. In fact, all that was good before turns into this feverish obsession that we see in Angelus in BtVS season 2. His interest in Buffy is still there, but it has turned into something terrible and unhealthy.

So, while I bet that Darla and Angel/us shared sexual bliss, I don't think that equals happiness either.

Ironically (or not), I actually do have a soft spot for Darla and Angel. As for losing his soul, I don't know... perhaps if something had happened while she came to him for help when she was human and dying. Then again other than the time being too short, still probably not – because in the end she was still Darla and as much as he cared for her, he still remembered all the horrible things they had done together.

[itsnotmymind.livejournal.com]

I much prefer Angel/Darla to Angel/Buffy, but I'm not surprised he didn't lose his soul sleeping with Darla. And honestly - I think if Angel had slept with Buffy a second time, he probably wouldn't have experienced perfect happiness again. It would have been a different thing. But I understand why they didn't want to risk it.

[teragramm.livejournal.com]

Post losing his soul and regaining it, the characters weren't sure if it was sex with Buffy or just sex that would make him lose his soul. In BtVS season 3 "Enemies". Faith tries to sleep with Angel hoping he would lose his soul.

[itsnotmymind.livejournal.com]

Way back in Innocence, Enyos said: "Angel is meant to suffer, not to live as human. One moment of true happiness, of contentment, one moment where the soul that we restored no longer plagues his thoughts, and that soul is taken from him."

So it was never just "sex with Buffy" - it was "true happiness" - but lots of characters, Faith included, got confused.