The OCs were nothing to do with confidence - both of them asked to be written, and they were enjoyable to write, but I had absolutely no confidence in them. Luckily no-one actually laughed in my face. Besides, the sketched-out characters which you then fully-flesh are only a step or so away from OCs.

That's because you see him through Spike's eyes

True - I've only ever really seen him as a foil for Spike. I didn't see much of early BtVS, but what I saw of Angel in that show I really didn't like (although I did sort of enjoy Angelus as a character), and that was even before the Spikelove. I began to appreciate him more in what I saw of AtS S5, but again, only in the context of Spike. I guess to be fair to him I need to watch all of AtS, but honestly, I doubt I'll ever find the time now.

Ready to let Spike go? Well, maybe. But you know what it's like - you finish these things and think never again, but then the muse comes calling...

I haven't looked at general_buffy yet. I'll have a think, but as ever, time is against me right now, although after the recent small flurry of stories I'm missing writing.

Oh, and I did forget to mention it again, but I do love your descriptive prose. It's rich and atmospheric without being heavy and overdone; I think that's a very fine line to tread and I don't know many who achieve it so stylishly. You really should think about writing something original, you know.