[Dannyblue]

I've probably said this before, but what I liked most about C/A was that I could imagine them married, and still in love, in 40 or 50 years. There that old, gray couple who bicker all the time. Then, suddenly, the old guy pinches his wife on the behind, and she scolds him for being a dirty old man, but you can see the laughter in her eyes.

With B/A, even when I kinda liked it, I could never imagine it beyond 2, possibly 3, years in the future. I mean, I just never thought of them growing old, happily, together. That relationship had to be full of angst, and conflict, and pain, and declarations in moments of crisis. I remember that that was the only time I found it interesting. With C/A, I found the two of them just sitting around talking interesting.

Another difference is that being with Cordy made Angel feel...well, good. Well, unless she was mad at him about something...which could also be fun to watch. But, really, Angel seemed more willing to believe he was a good person, a good man, vampire or not, when he was around Cordy. On the other hand, one of the staples of B/A was that Angel felt like a monster around Buffy. That was one of the points of that relationship. The message seemed to be that Buffy was willing to love Angel in spite of the fact that he was a vampire. But Cordy just loved Angel, vampire and all.

I guess part of it does boil down to what kind of relationship you find more romantic. If you like the Romeo & Juliet, tragic love thing, you're gonna love B/A.

If, on the other hand, you dream of being in a relationship where you're in love with your best friend, and you feel complete and good when you're together, you'll probably favor C/A.