Re: RE: Jude

[danspector@xxxxxxxxx]

Hmm, let me break this down into sections:

SITE INFO: Checked your descriptions, and you certainly were right
about the darkness. Just goes to show that you can't judge an author on
just one or two pieces. Glad to see that you've got some B/W projects
in the works.
 
(Including the omni-present "Beer Bad" fic <g>--I must be
malfunctional, since sometimes it feels like I'm the only one who
doesn't write CaveSlayer fic. Poor Tracey Forbes would probably be
quite cheered to know that her none-too-well-regarded ep has inspired so
much writing. [Not to mention the many B/X stories that same ep has
generated.])

I did notice that the fics themselves are password protected. Perhaps
you could post a link directing people to the part of the site where
they can obtain passwords? (Assuming that I didn't just miss it--I
sometimes skim right over key details.)

DISCLAIMERS: Again, no particular B/W/T author should have to feel the
need to defend any particular fic. The complaints I responded to cited
an upsurge in the number of fics (I hope to update the weekly fic
indexes that I've been neglecting, and this will probably be clear,
then) that focused on B/W "loving everybody but each other". That's not
a particular criticism of the portrayal of the dynamic in any given fic.

Indeed, your analysis indicates that you have in fact given this subject
a good deal of thought (probably more than I have--ulp!), which leads
me into...

THOUGHTS ON THE SHOW'S PORTRAYAL OF WILLOW, B/W, W/T and other things:

As a B/W fan (and I'm not trying to tell you how things are; this is
strictly "agree to disagree" stuff", I know), the problem I have with
the Willow=Support/Buffy=Protection/Tara=Emotional Center concept you've
placed in your paradigm is that it makes both Willow and Buffy's
contributions external with Tara the essential element. Take Willow out
of this mix, and Buffy and Tara could be happy, assuming they inherited
some money or whatever. Take Buffy out and Willow and Tara would be
fine, assuming they moved away from the Hellmouth and didn't need to
have a Slayer in the house. (Or, more simply, that Buffy remained a
friend and protected them as she did on the show.) But remove Tara, and
you lose the emotional connective tissue of the family. Being someone
who believes that Buffy and Willow connect quite well without a third
party present, it disquiets me to see their roles in the relationship
focused more on the outside world than on the ability to share love with
each other.

That said, I think this conception of both Buffy and Willow in
traditional "male" roles (breadwinner, protector, skilled at dealing
with the world but needing "a woman's touch" around the home) and Tara
as "female" (mother, etc.) is in fact more in line with how the show
currently portrays the characters, which may indicate that my
dissatisfaction is more properly directed at Joss than at any W/T or
B/W/T author.

Originally, Buffy and Willow had a very strong romantic
relationship--classically sketched in fact, with Buffy as the hero who
had the strength to do great deeds but was subject to emotional torment,
and Willow as "the girlfriend", who supports the hero emotionally, but
often needs physical help (damsel in distress). One of the classic
scenes I love is in "Teacher's Pet", where the group is all dazed in the
library after having discovered Dr. Gregory's body, and Buffy (who's
been crying!) can barely respond to Giles (she says she doesn't want the
water, but drinks it anyway). But when Willow says that they're going
to find out what did this, they'll find out what it is and deal with it,
all of a sudden Buffy snaps out of it, straightens up, wipes the tear
away and is back to being ObservantHeroBuffy (she's able to establish
the time of death because she noticed that Dr. Gregory hadn't changed
his clothes, and we later discover she also noticed the teethmarks on
the corpse). Willow's belief in Buffy lets Buffy believe in
herself--that's the original dynamic.

But, post-high school, Willow was effectively "transgendered" as she
moved from being the "feminine" figure in her relationship with Buffy to
being the "masculine" one in her relationship with Tara. The producers
might have thought it would be a good idea to show Willow's growth by
having her mentor Tara as Buffy had once mentored her (which, given the
copious amounts of W/T sex to come, suggests that this is something
Willow had always wanted from Buffy <g>), but there were two flaws that
I see this as causing:

1) Since Willow was not, in point of fact, Buffy, the attempt to make
her the "strong" figure in W/T resulted in Tara making a very muted
first impression, which charmed some, but put others off. Speaking from
personal experience, at the time I was not yet a B/W shipper (still
clinging to my Xander-identification and holding out hope for B/X until
it became clear that Joss had lost all interest in the character) and
neither was I opposed to Willow's lesbianism (I thought it was a cool
idea, except for the "Tara" part), but Tara never was able to captivate
me.  

(Yes, I've heard the "Tara is like 1st Season Willow" theory, but having
seen Tara, then having seen S1 Willow and then having read that theory,
I tend to go "Huh?". I really don't see a comparison there at all,
because Aly gave Willow a hopeful spark right from the beginning,
whereas Tara is unsure and timid every step of the way in Season 4.)

2. By changing Willow's role, they set the stage to strip her character
of most of its role in the story, giving all of Willow's former
attributes (personification of innocence and the essential goodness of
humanity, able to see the best in people, the single most important
thing in Buffy's life [which Buffy will make any sacrifice for] and yes,
damsel-in-distress) to Dawn.  

>From the moment Willow's characterization was reduced to "lesbian
witch", one could argue that turning her EEEVIL because it's "kewl"
would be inevitable. If a supporting character is primarily defined by
their superpowers, turning them evil and pitting them against the lead
is a virtual lock. (Which fits in nicely with the fact that Joss always
planned to kill Tara for just this purpose.)

So the show changed from a Buffy/Willow "male/female" dynamic to
Buffy/Dawn and Willow/Tara "couples". (An interesting sidenote is that
they chose different paths to make the "couples" dysfunctional in Season
Sux--Dawn was made emotionally retarded, immature, and unable to reach
Buffy in the traditional "nurturing" role, and Willow was stripped of
her "masculine" strengths by the recasting of magic [except for Tara's
church-approved, do-as-I-say-and-nothing-else magic] as "evil". And
then we got those bizarre scenes of the two irresponsible kids running
wild, as in "As You Were", and the IMO equally-jolting scenes of
Buffy/Tara friendship, when there really hadn't seemed to be any greater
communication from the days of "Family" when Buffy had to admit she
didn't know a thing about Tara other than "she likes Willow". All in
all, the whole year felt strange to me.)  

And so perhaps I'm fighting a battle for a perception of Willow that
Joss has already discarded. Perhaps he had this master scheme to turn
Buffy into a mommy (Joss is said to have issues over his own mother's
death) and realized that Willow had to be replaced as Buffy's focus; I
don't know. Perhaps the entirety of W/T is an attempt to clear the
decks for the Glory that is Dawn. (Yay.) All I know is that "Tara is
the emotional heart" goes against my instincts that say "no, Willow is!"
and perhaps that's why I have difficulty dealing with B/W/T. Even
though the show itself may be on your side.

Of course, since the show ended at "Graduation Day", I have no idea who
these "Dawn" and "Tara" characters are, anyway. Oh, look, the Sphinx!
<g>

Dan

PS#1--While I can't entirely put myself in your place, it must have
been a dispiriting influence to come to the show, post-"The Gift" as a
W/T supporter, only to see two of the three elements in the relationship
[Willow, magic], effectively recast as evil.

PS#2--although I don't ship Willow/Spike, it occurs to me that those
shippers might well have some of the same issues I have over Willow's
traditional roles being given to Dawn. Certainly, pre-Dawn, Willow
would have been the member of the group who was the one to reach out to
an outcast such as Spike (see, for example, "Doomed", although her
actions there weren't entirely about Spike, per se).