I did not mean the relationship itself, everyone has their own opinion and for me Cordelia and Angel will always win just because of the slow build up - but this is a another matter.
I meant when someone say: Angel didnt LOVE Cordelia "just" because he did NOT recognise Cordelia was not herself.
My counter question was: Buffy did NOT either - did she really love him, when she did not notice Angel was not himself? or are the facts laid out in such a way that they fit into someone own benefits of the ships?
Well the situations with Angel and Cordy versus Buffy and Angel are very different in how they played out.
I'm not going to say anything about Angel not loving Cordy because he didn't recognise her it wasn't her as that's not the issue for me however it was a considerable amount of time before he and the others came to realise that something was off with Cordy to then concoct a plan to expose her as being possessed.
Now with Buffy when she went to Angel's lair and unknowingly was confronted with soulless Angel, the way he behaved she CLEARLY shows she sees that something is wrong with him but she doesn't have the capacity to understand what has happened to him given that neither she or even Angel knew at the time before their lovemaking the astronomical consequences that was to be bestowed on them all in her and Angel doing the deed.
As for Bangel vs Cangel, well of gorgeous given my photo, it's BAngel through and through.
I don't consider Cangel as toxic in the way I do the other vampire relationship that Buffy had however I never felt it was anything more than two close friends who probably should have stayed that way. I understand how it could have developed into something more but it just never felt it was the natural path for the two of them. Still I can understand why others did because of their friendship.
Still they never build to last either no matter what because of the news that they were going to get the reserve Bangel 'Becoming' storyline where Angel was going to do what Buffy has done to him.
And for me even though I absolutely despise Buffy's other vampire relationship, well it was an actual relationship in terms of the two people involved in it got to be involved with each other no matter how gruesome it felt having to watch it.
Angel and Cordy never got to properly be together as a couple. Clearly the show was trying to establish they had deep feelings for one other (whether you but that or not) however it never got the chance to come to fruit which is the tragedy of their situation.
And while I love Angel as a character, Cordelia was someone I had a dislike/like/really like relationship with but I can't honestly say I totally got to love her as a character on either show however I would gladly have keep her in ATS series 5 over any new addition that pop up on that series!