I really don't like when other ships are undermined in order to prop a ship up, and this includes Bangel.
Agreed. A good ship should be able to stand on it's own two feet, not have to take out other ships in order to fly. Spuffy is a prime example of doing it. Sprusilla's break up in Lovers Walk was retconned to be all about Spuffy, despite the fact in Lovers Walk, it had nothing to do with that. Dru was pissed at Spike for his truce with Buffy, that's why she broke up with him, not because she saw him being in love with Buffy. Also, Dru was brought back literally just so Spike could reject her in favour of Spuffy, she served no other purpose.
None of the other BtVS ships did this:
Xanya didn't undermine Xandelia
Tillow didn't undermine Woz
Briley didn't undermine Bangel (even though Riley felt threatened by it, the show never felt then need to make Buffy choose one ship over the other)
Spuffy had to undermine Sprusilla because Sprusilla is the far superior ship. JM and JL had fantastic romantic chemistry, JM and SMG have great frenemy chemistry but the romantic chemistry always seemed a bit stilted (probably because JM and JL have similar acting styles where they would push each other whereas SMG insisted JM did things in a certain way). It's a good thing Angel was off doing his own show because just imagine the ship war that would emerge if the writers tried to push Spuffy whilst Angel was still on the scene.
I don't think he was capable of love without a soul (Same as I don't think any soulless vamp was)
I have to disagree with this. The whole "you can't love without a soul" is said by souled characters yet you have several soulless vampires going "actually we can". The only authority on what a soulless vampire feels is a soulless vampire. Whatever soulless vampires feel that they call love is real to them, a souled character can't really turn round and go "you're wrong" just because it doesn't match up to what they think love is. We see several vampire couples stick together for a long time, Spike and Drusilla didn't just cut each other loose when one was in a weakened state, they stayed around and looked after the weaker half despite there not really being a beneficial incentive of doing so, they did it because they loved each other.
In regards to Angel, who has been soulless and souled, I think the soul gives him the capacity to understand the sacrificial element of love eg doing what's right for someone else even if it doesn't benefit you in any way, such as Angel leaving town. Angel is then measuring love by the souled definition of it whereas the soulless vampires are measuring it by their own standards of what love is.
Therefore, both sides are right. Soulless vampires can feel love by their own standards whilst they can't by souled standards. It shouldn't be dismissed just because Buffy or whoever else decides it's not real. What soulless vampires feel is real to them.
Darla thinks what she and Angel had when they were soulless was love.
See above. Whatever Darla felt about Angelus/Angel was real to her, It might not be a souled standard of love, but it was love by vampire standards.
as a soulless monster she wouldn't have cared about Angel loving Buffy (no one quote the BtVS episode Angel at me because Darla isn't a fully-realised character at that point and is therefore written somewhat OOC, I mean, Darla with guns? Please) but as a human she is greatly upset at the notion that Angel didn't love her, because as a human her feelings for him are different and she believes that what they had was love. It shows that, even though she won't admit it, her soul is affecting her and her feelings for Angel are changing, making her more susceptible to emotions like jealousy.
I think vampire Darla was jealous about Angel loving Buffy because that is how she felt he felt about her once upon a time. She was hurt that Angel would fall in love with someone else, especially a slayer.
IMO, Angel loved both Buffy and Darla, in different ways and at different points in his life, and I don't think his love for either woman undermines the other; he has deep connections with both women and I would class them as the two most important women in his life
This is why Bangel and Dangel would be such the perfect genuine love triangle. It's not a case of "Who's Angel going to choose? Who does he like more?" because he has feelings for both women. Dangel have a long history and she is the mother of his child, whilst Bangel have a different kind of love that is pure and innocent. Both relationships have merits and both have drawbacks. Most important of all, it's not a competition between the two women to "win" Angel's heart which seems to be a trap most love triangles fall into.
