You had us both confused for a moment. *lol* No worries, I deleted the other post. I've been meaning to ask you how the hell you all manage to do what you do with the herald ever since spuffy_luvr told me she thought you actually screen everything you link to? It makes me headachy just to think of it.
I was always a little sad Buffy and Tara never got more screen time together. As someone who also lost her mother young and pretty much had to take care of herself, Tara was someone Buffy had a lot in common with.
I was beginning to think I was crazy for thinking that, so yay! When I started writing meta notes about them I noticed how they both are deeply bonded with loving but imperfect mothers who are the centers of their emotional worlds, and both have issues with fathers who are either absent (Hank) or abusive/overcontrolling (Mr Maclay). And so forth. They are both very loyal and loving but also stubborn at times, but express it in very different ways. Has anyone ever written a Tara the Vampire Slayer fic? Or Tara being the one called after Kendra (or Faith's) death? That could be nifty.
And they both have a strain of dogmatism in their thinking that's been handed down from their "fathers" - lies their parents told them, indeed. ("the Chosen One" "demons bad, Humans Good" "all the women in our family are demons, you're just like them" etc)
I love how they protect each other and Tara offers Buffy comfort but I'm also really interested in Tara's symbolic or metaphorical role in Buffy's story as well as her literal one, and I haven't see a lot written about that or the two of them in fic or meta. I have a series in mind but rather than the whiny "Why doesn't fandom write about these two, WHY?" I was trying for the "ac-cen-tu-ate the positive/be the change I wanted to see" approach.
But that is a curious thing to me: fanfic/ fandom is the place where we can fantasize or fill in the gaps and I guess that's a gap that people haven't been interested in filling? Maybe because I didn't really get interested in Tara as a person in her own right until S6 (OMWF/TR).
But I think there were multiple strikes against them developing a really close friendship
Very much so, yes. I understand Willow's stance of "wanting to keep Tara for herself"; I remember those days of early relationship with my sweetie and how we just FUSED into each other (every lesbian couple I knew in those days did the same - is that a lesbian thing or a universal thing?) but at the same time I know now how unhealthy it is to cut yourself or others off from the outside world, your friends and resources, etc. esp once the "honeymoon phase" is over.
the situation with Willow again made things awkward, and Buffy doesn't seem to have continued to seek her out post OAFA.
The writers did use Tara as a plot device, sadly, most of the time - hell, her entire initial purpose was a plot device and she was supposed to die so Joss could have his "Dark Willow" storyline after Seth Green left. They really could have done so much more with her, and Amber Benson seemed game for it once they gave her the chance in S6.
I do recall Willow being jealous about Tara and Buffy connecting because they both lost their mothers in TL. NOT one of Willow's finer moments but it got pushed aside after Tara was tortured by Glory. The dialogue does seem to imply that Buffy and Tara had connected with each other more than that one time in The Body, which Willow wasn't privvy to? Otherwise, Willow's jealousy doesn't quite make sense. I need to rewatch the ep, though.
I once had one of the biggest arguments I ever had with a beta over some lines of Buffy and Tara dialogue...
About what exactly? Care to share? *perks up* Was this in one of the POM/Barbsverse stories?
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branchandroot
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Date: 2013-06-18 07:09 pm (UTC)You had us both confused for a moment. *lol* No worries, I deleted the other post. I've been meaning to ask you how the hell you all manage to do what you do with the herald ever since
I was always a little sad Buffy and Tara never got more screen time together. As someone who also lost her mother young and pretty much had to take care of herself, Tara was someone Buffy had a lot in common with.
I was beginning to think I was crazy for thinking that, so yay! When I started writing meta notes about them I noticed how they both are deeply bonded with loving but imperfect mothers who are the centers of their emotional worlds, and both have issues with fathers who are either absent (Hank) or abusive/overcontrolling (Mr Maclay). And so forth. They are both very loyal and loving but also stubborn at times, but express it in very different ways. Has anyone ever written a Tara the Vampire Slayer fic? Or Tara being the one called after Kendra (or Faith's) death? That could be nifty.
And they both have a strain of dogmatism in their thinking that's been handed down from their "fathers" - lies their parents told them, indeed. ("the Chosen One" "demons bad, Humans Good" "all the women in our family are demons, you're just like them" etc)
I love how they protect each other and Tara offers Buffy comfort but I'm also really interested in Tara's symbolic or metaphorical role in Buffy's story as well as her literal one, and I haven't see a lot written about that or the two of them in fic or meta. I have a series in mind but rather than the whiny "Why doesn't fandom write about these two, WHY?" I was trying for the "ac-cen-tu-ate the positive/be the change I wanted to see" approach.
But that is a curious thing to me: fanfic/ fandom is the place where we can fantasize or fill in the gaps and I guess that's a gap that people haven't been interested in filling? Maybe because I didn't really get interested in Tara as a person in her own right until S6 (OMWF/TR).
But I think there were multiple strikes against them developing a really close friendship
Very much so, yes. I understand Willow's stance of "wanting to keep Tara for herself"; I remember those days of early relationship with my sweetie and how we just FUSED into each other (every lesbian couple I knew in those days did the same - is that a lesbian thing or a universal thing?) but at the same time I know now how unhealthy it is to cut yourself or others off from the outside world, your friends and resources, etc. esp once the "honeymoon phase" is over.
the situation with Willow again made things awkward, and Buffy doesn't seem to have continued to seek her out post OAFA.
The writers did use Tara as a plot device, sadly, most of the time - hell, her entire initial purpose was a plot device and she was supposed to die so Joss could have his "Dark Willow" storyline after Seth Green left. They really could have done so much more with her, and Amber Benson seemed game for it once they gave her the chance in S6.
I do recall Willow being jealous about Tara and Buffy connecting because they both lost their mothers in TL. NOT one of Willow's finer moments but it got pushed aside after Tara was tortured by Glory. The dialogue does seem to imply that Buffy and Tara had connected with each other more than that one time in The Body, which Willow wasn't privvy to? Otherwise, Willow's jealousy doesn't quite make sense. I need to rewatch the ep, though.
I once had one of the biggest arguments I ever had with a beta over some lines of Buffy and Tara dialogue...
About what exactly? Care to share? *perks up* Was this in one of the POM/Barbsverse stories?