Day Twenty-Four: Female Character Meme

Day Twenty-Four: Favorite female romantic relationship: Willow/Tara




Because of the way it ended, it's sometimes easy to forget why I loved that relationship in the first place. Yes, the dynamic was certainly abusive by S6 and it ended in sheer tragedy, but that's just Joss not allowing any couple to have lasting happiness ever. But bitter aftertaste and sadness at Tara's end aside, I was beyond impressed in some aspects by how the whole relationship was handled. If other shows decided to have a major character discover they were gay, it would have been a Very Special Episode. Instead, what we got was a lovely, organic, convincing story where the shift in the dynamic from the two of them tentatively connecting over magic to the point where Willow chose Tara over Oz (and in a love triangle plot where all three parties came off as sympathetic) was so gradual, the audience was as caught by surprise as the characters were (including, it should be said, Willow herself).

For me, the best parts of the relationship was the growth both characters experienced through it, Tara in particular going from the extremely shy, stuttering girl of S4 to (and as much as I hated Willow's storyline in S6, Tara's character rocked. Until...well, you know) to someone who's strong enough to stand up to her abusive family, refuse to betray her friends even while tortured by a hellgod, and ultimately find the strength to leave that very relationship when it goes bad. And while I think the dark Willow storyline was poorly executed, I still get shivers were she went Dark Phoenix on Glory after Tara was brainsucked. And yay for a f/f relationship on TV that wasn't at all male gazey! I actually think Amber Benson is cute as hell, but she's hardly Hollywood's idea of 'hot' (and for some reason seemed to have pissed off the wardrobe people, given the unflattering garb they put her in), and I never got the impression a scene with them was there for titillation (except that bit from Xander's dream in restless, which is totally IC and hilarious. And hot).

( Days 1-30 )

Day Twenty-Five: Female Character Meme

Day Twenty-Five: Favorite mother/daughter and/or sister relationship: Buffy and Dawn




It shouldn't have worked. The character of Dawn was retconned into the narrative in the most literal way, and accepting the “monks rewrote history” within the story was challenge enough: making the character's sudden ties to the regulars believable was another thing entirely. And yet, somehow they managed to sell it. I could see Dawn's being Buffy's sister, from all the annoying displays of little sister behavior to the desperate need for approval underneath. And yes, there's the whole “Key to the universe” plot point and the constant peril it put Dawn in, but even after she found that out, Buffy didn't protect the key-she protected her little sister (after she was done with the -completely justifiable- freakout).

As epic as the whole storyline that culminated in The Gift was, my favorite part of this relationship is not about Buffy making the ultimate sacrifice (although I found that she put her sister over the world interesting-it's not the traditional hero stance, but it felt more realistic to where Buffy was at that point). It's the little moments, like the mutual snark, Buffy's clumsy attempts at acting as the parent after Joyce's death, Dawn's grief at her sister's loss, Dawn's helplessness at not getting through to her sister in S6, and in later seasons, how they started interacting on a more equal level. And as great as Buffy protecting Dawn promising Spike he would wake up on fire if her hurt Buffy again still wins all the badassery awards.

( Days 1-30 )