The Kitten, the Witches and the Bad Wardrobe Willow & Tara Forever

by **april** » Thu Dec 07, 2000 1:39 pm

posted 12-07-2000 15:39 EST (US)
Continuing our discussion of last season's Tara appearances while we suffer through reruns, here's the place to relive the wonder and joy of roses floating in "A New Man". Let's see if i can do this right...

To give credit where credit is due, this wonderful pic comes from buffyguide.com. I hope they don't object.

I just saw this ep for the first time a few days ago, and was amazed at how flirty they seemed despite the fact that it was only their second encounter. Willow "forgetting" to tell Tara what sort of spell they were going to "start slow" doing was great. I feel like it's already starting to progress a bit past subtext here, and into the maintexty flirtatious behavior that characterizes the beginning of a relationship. After all, we just watched Riley and Buffy flirting for the entire first half of season 4!

(my god, i just made a post with proper capitalization!)

by **BBOvenGuy** » Thu Dec 07, 2000 1:57 pm

posted 12-07-2000 15:57 EST (US)
As long as we're reviewing all of last year's Tara appearances, would anyone object to me being shamelessly self-promotional and posting links to the appropriate fic in my "Reflections In Transit" series on each show? They really are the bulk of what I have to say on the subject, and the newbies might not have read them yet.

The fic for "A New Man" was titled Change of Venue.

Looking back, it seemed like a long time between "Hush" and "A New Man," because there were all those weeks of reruns in between. So I guess it wasn't all that surprising at the time to see things progress. We'd been talking about it online through the reruns, after all. Things like Willow wearing a rainbow shirt seemed like cute little hints. The fact that she lied to Buffy seemed curious and ominous. It's interesting to remember, then, that on the Buffy set these two episodes were much closer together in time - just the one or two weeks to film "Doomed" between them. They would definitely have been going through the script phase at roughly the same time. Joss&co. were definitely up to something, even though a lot of people were denying it at the time.

by **april** » Thu Dec 07, 2000 5:35 pm

posted 12-07-2000 19:35 EST (US)
oh yes, i forgot about the rainbow shirt...

bob, i love your fics btw. they're very sweet.

by **xita** » Thu Dec 07, 2000 7:52 pm

posted 12-07-2000 21:52 EST (US)
OH yes, A new Man, my favorite parts of that were the plucking of the petals. How suggestive is that! So many of these things spell romantic encounter, their soft voices, the romantic music in the background. And the freaking rose. All, I know is that I had to wait a long time to see this scene, cause I wasn't taping the episode and I was interrupted by the phone when the two of them came on screen. I had to read all about it on usenet. Also, I remember what a relief it was that Tara was back. After she wasn't in Doomed, I had begun to wonder if she would be back. I wasn't into spoilers then so I didn't know anything until the episode aired. Though I think that was the last episode I remained unspoiled for.

Ahh and thanks for the credit there. I meant to mention this earlier, and I will put it in the faq. If you want to post a pic, try to upload it to your server and always give credit to where you got it. Also, it's always ok to link to the picture instead. Anyway, let's just give props to people's sites.

by **fell** » Fri Dec 08, 2000 12:10 am

posted 12-08-2000 02:10 EST (US)
I've been watching Season 4 eps to survive the rerun season. Those early eps w/Tara seem especially poignant after what Willow went through in Wild At Heart. Her acting is so powerful through that and the following episodes. Absolutely heart-wrenching. It has a lot more impact watching one episode after another than seeing them weeks apart.

by **Rane** » Fri Dec 08, 2000 10:52 am

posted 12-08-2000 12:52 EST (US)
i thought i read somewhere that it wasn't until about the third tara ep that they decided to make willow and tara a couple, due to the onscreen chemistry. but it had already been hinted at from before tara even appeared. so, i'm confused now.

anyhow. *a new man*, i've actually never seen the ep. i didn't tape it cause i thought it was a taraless ep cause the one before had been a taraless ep and i missed it! and then over the summer i was in santa fe where they had no WB in the hotel and missed it again! ARGH! sniffle... oh wait. was it the thespia one i missed? i think it was that one. oh well. pay me no mind then.

but i love the floating rose idea. trying to work in synch is soooo sexy! all the pixs i've seen of this ep are so cool. they hold hands! tee hee! and start out slowly...

by **Hugin** » Fri Dec 08, 2000 11:21 am

posted 12-08-2000 13:21 EST (US)
The floating rose scene, from Boobtoob.net, recap by Carly Milne

quote:
Cue 70s porno music. The room is sensually lit with flatter lights and candles. Tara is kneeling on the floor. Willow is beside her, holding a rose. Tara catches her eye. Willow smiles nervously as Tara moves toward her slowly, lips dewy and parted, breasts heaving. Willow closes her eyes and instinctively moves closer to Tara, unconsciously licking her lips in anticipation. And then, blissfully, their lips brush, first softly, then with an urgency Willow hasn't felt since Oz left town. It leaves her breathless.
Damn, I've been reading too much Jackie Collins.
What really happened is this: Tara is drawing a symbol on the floor, and it looks like she's using sand to do it. Willow says she's glad they could get together, and Tara says she's glad Will called. Then they kiss. No, sorry, that's my imagination again. Willow says they'll start out slow, but not like that - like with doing a spell. She puts the rose on top of the symbol and she and Tara clasp hands. Willow closes her eyes. Tara does the same. Then the magnetic attraction between them pulls them close…. No, no. I mean Tara gets restless after a few moments of silence and says, "Willow?" "Yeah?" Willow says. Tara opens her eyes. "Start out slow doing what?" "Oh. We're gonna float the rose, then use the magics to pluck the petals off, one at a time. It's a test of synchronicity. Our minds have to be perfectly attuned to work as a single delicate implement." Okay, sounds easy enough. They concentrate and the rose floats in between them. They open their eyes and let go of each others hands. "It worked," Tara says in wonderment. "Now for the hard part," Willow says. "The petals." They focus. The rose goes berserk and files around the room, ricocheting like a bullet off the walls. It lands in the symbol without its petals, smoking. "What the heck was that?" Willow asks. "I don't know, but, uh, the petals are off," says Tara, whipping off her shirt as she says the last word and envelops Willow in a passionate embrace. Okay, not really, but it's gonna happen.

Hee!

-len

[This message has been edited by Hugin (edited December 08, 2000).]

by **april** » Fri Dec 08, 2000 11:28 am

posted 12-08-2000 13:28 EST (US)
woo hoo, len! this is great! does she "recap" any more scenes like this?

by **SciFiAcid** » Fri Dec 08, 2000 11:33 am

posted 12-08-2000 13:33 EST (US)
Thanks to len for directing me to the boobtoob site. The reviews are pretty good, and this Carly seems to really like W/T. She does a few like that. Where she digresses into what SHOULD be happening and than goes back to recap what REALLY happend. I spent all day yesterday, at work, reading the one's she's done!

by **april** » Fri Dec 08, 2000 11:43 am

posted 12-08-2000 13:43 EST (US)
sigh...just what i need...more w/t things to eat up my time at work...

"'extra flamey'? what's that" a coworker asks me. "what? oh, nothing..." i mumble and guiltily close my web browser. but not 5 minutes later, i'm back to finish the naughty fic that i started...

it's a good thing that folks don't lurk in the chat room during the day! i'd get fired!

by **Spring** » Fri Dec 08, 2000 11:46 am

posted 12-08-2000 13:46 EST (US)
Hey....I can lurk in the chat room all day....

by **Hugin** » Fri Dec 08, 2000 12:27 pm

posted 12-08-2000 14:27 EST (US)
Chatting during the day would be a terrible, terrible idea. We shouldn't do it. Nope....

-len

by **Roxton** » Fri Dec 08, 2000 1:21 pm

posted 12-08-2000 15:21 EST (US)
Thanks Len, the recap was great. Just what I needed, more W/T temptation. How is one suppose to get any work done.

by **xita** » Fri Dec 08, 2000 6:44 pm

posted 12-08-2000 20:44 EST (US)
I love those recaps. Though lately she has been frustrated by what isn't happening between them. I have been waiting for the "listening To Fear" review for a while now.

by **april** » Sat Dec 09, 2000 10:04 am

posted 12-09-2000 12:04 EST (US)
okay, i read these recaps yesterday in my sudafed-induced haze, and i was *dying* of laughter! i went back to them again today drug-free, and they were still funny, so i think boobtoob.net has got something there. my favorite line thus far? the person who writes the recaps is named carly, and she inserts some of her own lines into the scene in "the yoko factor" where the scoobies are arguing:

Willow: "Well, they certainly haven't been right since Tara. We have to face it: you can't handle Tara being my girlfriend."
Xander: "No! It was bad before that! Since you two went off to college and forgot about me! Just left me in the basement to-" (Turns to Willow, mouth agape) "Tara's your girlfriend?!?"
Giles: (From upstairs) "Bloody hell!"
Carly: "Jeez, how blind are you guys? What does she have to do - walk around with a strap-on on?"

hee hee hee...

by **xita** » Sat Dec 09, 2000 10:40 am

posted 12-09-2000 12:40 EST (US)
I love how she always inserted porn music into the w/t scenes he he.

Anyway, I was watching A New Man, my comments. There was a slashy moment when it appears that Ethan tells Giles that he finds him really attractive. Then you realize he was flirting with the waitress. It was hillarious later when Giles chased professor Butch, I mean Walsh. She had it coming.

On the w/t front. When Giles, Willow and Xander are at the crypt and they find nothing's going on, Willow is so impatient to leave. It's great cause we all know she's going straight to Tara to float the rose. Speaking of floating the rose, in order to do it, their minds had to be synchcronized and perfectly attuned. This was for floating a little rose. It's really easy to see what their emotional state was when they float danced.

by **april** » Sat Dec 09, 2000 10:59 am

posted 12-09-2000 12:59 EST (US)
xita, you're reading my mind today...

i was just thinking about how hilarious the scene where giles chases professor walsh was.

then i started thinking about plucking petals and synchronicity (hee), and how i'm sure they have a whole *new* test of synchronicity now, involving floating and petals and quite a few other things...

another of my favorite moments from the recaps (and then i'll stop, i promise...)

*******
In the meantime, Willow and Tara sit around the table -- behaving in the epitome of platonic. Tara tells Willow that it would be cool if they had a real psychic to read people's palms at the shop. Willow wants Tara to do it. She gives her her hand. Very platonically, Tara tells Willow that she sees "Willow hand." Now is that, "Willow hand that should be running itself up the inside of my skirt," and the last part just got lost in the swelling romantic music?
**********

now personally, i didn't find "willow hand" very platonic, but maybe she was being sarcastic.

bow chicka bow wow...

by **xita** » Sat Dec 09, 2000 11:10 am

posted 12-09-2000 13:10 EST (US)
I think she's upset that the show hasn't shown them being more couply. They have "pushed the envelope" but they did say slowly. Still I fear it's easier to move mountains.

by **Zahir** » Sat Dec 09, 2000 2:46 pm

posted 12-09-2000 16:46 EST (US)
You know, I gotta say the censors may have done us all a favor. Personally, I like seeing this entire relationship in terms of the "little things." Not that I don't want the TSS (tasteful shower scene) but giving up moments like "Willow's hand" or "I am" or that adorable skip after Willow by Tara in Primeval, or "Vixen" or the whole pineapple scene--I wouldn't want to lose any of these.

Don't you think one of the things that made the Oz/Willow relationship so cool was how they talked and just looked at each other *before* they ever hit the sheets?

------------------
"O let my name be in the Book of Love.
If it be there, I care not of
That other book Above...
Strike it out! Or write it in anew.
But let it be in the Book of Love!"
--Omar Kyam

by **Dr.G** » Sat Dec 09, 2000 4:28 pm

posted 12-09-2000 18:28 EST (US)
Hehehe, TSS...that's funny. I too enjoy all these little scenes, I think we all do (well at least at THIS board). And I will enjoy them just as much AFTER we see them kiss. And the fact that I want to see them kiss doesn't mean I don't have an imagination. (I'm replying to another thread now)

Anyway there's no reason to assume there won't be anymore of those scenes once -if ever- we get to see them kiss.
And as much as I like Oz and liked his relationship with Willow, in retrospect I don't see the same (i.e. I see less) chemistry between them, than I see between Willow and Tara.
Hmmm, that sentence was way too long. And I haven't even seen A New Man, so I really shouldn't be here. Leaving now...

by **wolliw** » Sun Dec 10, 2000 7:21 am

posted 12-10-2000 09:21 EST (US)
Just chiming in with a couple of comments --

Yeah, I liked the Giles/Ethan slash moment a lot too -- particularly since Giles didn't look put-off or anything when he thought Ethan was talking to him, more just surprised, I think!

As for the general issue of Willow and Tara not getting hot'n'heavy onscreen -- again, as many have said before, tasteful scenes of passion would be wonderful, but their lack to date does make the moments when W and T do touch that much more charged. Like the whole "Willow hand" scene; I know *I* was completely thinking that W and T would both be having thoughts about where that hand has been ;-) .

[This message has been edited by wolliw (edited December 10, 2000).]

by **Wiccagrrl** » Sun Dec 10, 2000 11:50 am

posted 12-10-2000 13:50 EST (US)
I always liked the idea of Ethan/Giles slash. From the first time we Ethan in Halloween the interaction between them is just fascinating. We've never seen anyone get under Giles' skin the way Ethan can. I definitely get the sense that there is a very interesting history there.

by **spuckie** » Mon Dec 11, 2000 1:50 pm

posted 12-11-2000 15:50 EST (US)
ok. abit of help here, cuz i've never seen the episode. but if the "hard part" of the synchronicity spell ended up mostly toasting the rose instead of gently plucking the petals off, what do y'all think was meant by that part?

were w/t really in synch back then? or, w/ all the "spellwork" going on, did they lose concentration and burn the rose w/ the heat of their rising passions?!?

inquiring minds want to know...

by **Hugin** » Mon Dec 11, 2000 1:55 pm

posted 12-11-2000 15:55 EST (US)
Willow and Tara's petal plucking efforts were disrupted by Ethan Rayne's spell to demonify Giles.

-len

by **Dr.G** » Mon Dec 11, 2000 1:56 pm

posted 12-11-2000 15:56 EST (US)
I think you pretty much anwsered your own question.

ANSWERED! I mean answered...taking my pills now

[This message has been edited by Dr.G (edited December 11, 2000).]

by **hopey** » Mon Dec 11, 2000 4:57 pm

posted 12-11-2000 18:57 EST (US)
I had a very good laugh when Gilles - at his demon shape - chased prof. Walsh...

l:

by **april** » Sun Dec 17, 2000 11:07 pm

posted 12-18-2000 01:07 EST (US)
hey cooie, in case you couldn't tell, i *love* your recaps, especially the w/t scenes! it's great to see you here! we need as many voices for more w/t action as we can get...

however did you get your enviable job, anyway?

by **shazza** » Mon Dec 18, 2000 3:06 am

posted 12-18-2000 05:06 EST (US)
Cooie - I think your recaps are fan-bloody-tastic! Very very funny. And your remarks about Buffys knobby knees and bony ass shots have made you my hero!!
(Dont want to be too mean to SMG but I am sick of the Hollywood ideal being pushed on us).

by **Cooie** » Mon Dec 18, 2000 10:12 am

posted 12-18-2000 12:12 EST (US)
Hey all, first post here... I just wanted to say thanks for all the kind words about my Buffy recaps at Boobtoob.net -- I really appreciate it! It's one thing when I write them and think they're funny in my head... I'm glad you all find them amusing.

Also, yes, it was dastardly late, but "Listening To Fear" is finally up. I hope you like it!

And on the W/T tip, I just finished reading an interview with Joss in Bust Magazine where he says he was surprised about the backlash against Willow when she and Tara "went public", because he just wanted to "show their relationship as a natrual progression". My thought is if that were true, wouldn't he show them cuddling and smooching like he does every five minutes with Riley and Buffy?

by **Cooie** » Mon Dec 18, 2000 10:39 am

posted 12-18-2000 12:39 EST (US)
Thanks! You guys are so kind.

How'd I get my job... well, I actually run the site with a friend (known as Branwen on our boards.) She does half the recaps for Angel, all of Oz, and a couple others. I'm very fortunate to work with a great team of people over there.

Sometimes I worry about being too mean to Buffy (and Xander, especially) in the recaps, but after hearing all those rumors of how she treats people on set, I don't really feel all that bad.

The Kitten, the Witches and the Bad Wardrobe Willow & Tara Forever

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