by gorn » Sun Mar 04, 2007 6:02 am
I lurked on the old board for a year or two. Mostly came looking for pics/videos and news on what Amber and Alyson were doing.
I was living in Japan until about 2 years ago, and Buffy was one of the few English-language shows that was being run in its entirety (we only got about 2 seasons of The X-Files, in comparison). Needless to say, I was a couple of years behind the rest of you. I started watching sometime around the beginning of Season 4; "Hush" was probably one of the first episodes I saw. Buffy was on every weeknight, though, so I ended up missing quite a few episodes. They were also running the latest season's episodes on the weekend (starting with Season 5), so I was getting a little mixed-up & confused seeing things out of order. As fun as the show was, I almost MIGHT have given up on it ... if it hadn't been for "Family."
I didn't see a lot of the more famous Willow/Tara scenes in Season 4, but I knew they were a couple. They were slowly becoming one of the more interesting parts of the show for me, and "Family" really is an episode which is all about the two of them. I loved that birthday party scene at the end, the way each character is "acting normal" (as opposed to talking about vampires or monsters or fighting). I liked how Dawn gave Tara a broom! And then the dance scene ...
I liked the way Willow lead her out to the dance floor. I liked how they talked, how they looked at each other, how they held each other. Genuine chemistry. When Willow said it was "magic," it really was, and I felt it deep, deep inside. I hadn't felt anything like this since I used to watch Beauty & the Beast years and years ago - it had been that long since any couple in tv, books, or movies had moved me so much. By the time they started to float and the credits came on, my eyes were full of tears.
That's what brought me to the old board. I needed to fill-in all the Willow & Tara gaps. Downloaded some wallpaper, watched a few of the music videos. Learned with terrible disappointment what was going to eventually happen in Season 6, but saw that life still went on and was vibrant on this board.
And life went on. I moved back to the States with my wife, jumped through hula-hoops getting her visa. Re-adjusted to a country I hadn't really seen in 10 years, found a job and moved across country to the bluegrass state of Kentucky, bought a house, settled down. I now had a hundred channels and a monster-wide tv ... but Buffy wasn't on anymore. Still had my favourite episodes downloaded, had lots of Willow & Tara music videos when the mood hit me, but basically life just went on. I haven't seen anything that comes even vaguely close to warming my heart as much as Willow & Tara did, but that's OK (it was about 10 years from Catherine & Vincent to Willow & Tara, so I'm not holding my breath). I had my memories, and that was enough.
"Neverland" by EasierSaid brought me back to the new board. I'd never read any of the fanic here before; just wasn't all that interested. I don't know what set me off this time, but I suddenly had an idea for a Willow & Tara story of my own one day and I wanted to see what other people had written first. My idea wasn't racy, had no unusual pairing of characters, and no real action or violence. The atmosphere of this board is really warm and open - and quite pure when it comes to Willow & Tara - so I thought I'd start looking around here first.
In the "Neverland" thread itself, I've posted how I was surprised to have found a story with such an overwhelming amount of views. Four-hundred thousand ... unbelievable. I started reading that story, and probably like everyone else who has read it, started falling in love with Willow & Tara all over again. I was not expecting anything like this from fanfic; I had no idea it would be so ... good. And somewhere in the back of my mind, I felt SAFE reading this - no one on this board was going to shatter these characters again; they were in good hands. I let myself fall for the story, and I fell hard.
So, here I am. I'm not a lesbian. I'm not at all small, cute, or cuddly, but in my heart I've become a Kitten. I check this board everyday (you never know - there COULD be a "Neverland" update!). I started reading through Sassette's "Vignettes" and found a scene that was oddly reminiscent of the one I wanted to write. And still might one of these days, who knows? I'm happy to be here and I like the sense of community around these two characters we all love so much. I'm happy - so happy - I'm not the only one.
Sorry this was such a long post.
"I usually don't use so many words to say stuff that little, but do you get it at all?" - Willow
And then I saw Tara and I thought: "She is so adorable." 
So, I kept watching my newfound show, and found that Willow and Tara were in fact a couple. 
I was instantly hooked after that. So, I went on the net to search for stuff about Willow and Tara, and guess what site I happened to stumble across? 
I broke my neck in a diving accident and I was layed up for months so I ran across Buffy one day and the obsession was off and running. when I could drive again I found a computer and surfed to find anything I could about Willow and Tara. I found the wonderful site and have been here ever since. 
seemed to demand that I sign-up to the K, in order to discuss them.
Out
