I Have a Theory...oh, wait, no I don't

[crazydiamondsue]

I need help. I'm working on the last two parts of Sunday Morning, and it's like trying to lose that last 10 pounds...it's hard and makes me want to say screw it and have a sundae (heh, get it? Sundae? I'm so lame - why do you people read this drivel?)

I'm working on the scene where Tara & Xander discuss why Tara went along with Willow's resurrection plan. Was she still in the "Yay, Willow! She's a brainy type," mode or did she really believe Willow had covered all the angles and considered every possible consequence? Or was it just convenient story telling? (If you're thinking, "Jeez, Sue, write your own story and stop sponging off your flist", feel free to read spikedluv's "Stay" or spikendru's "Run for Your Life" and ignore me and my pitiful mumblings.) Feel free to express yourself candidly, there are no stupid answers, only stupid people. (And that's me quoting "South Park," so please don't slap a kerfuffle jihad on me. That handwriting analysis thing said I was diplomatic, and we know it didn't lie!!!)

Any help is appreciated. And there could be drabbles written for you as thanks (although you'll have to provide the plot 'cause I'm obviously the least creative person in this 'verse.)

Comments

Wanna trade brains?

[cityphonelines.livejournal.com]

I'll write your verse and your write my verses. God, how did I end up with multiple verses?

And that in itself will tell you that I have no suggestions, just boredom.

Random side note: did you know there's an old PWP called "Monday Morning Going Down"?
It's not only old, but decrepit. But I just re-ran across it the other day. It's... not good.

Re: Wanna trade brains?

[crazydiamondsue.livejournal.com]

Give me your brain! :::moans like a zombie:::

I want to finish this story so bad (sob!) And speaking just as one of your BFLJ, I liked the dark turn your Beatles fics were taking. Didn't think they were disturbing at all. That said, having just read my story from start to finish and thinking, "Huh. What was I trying to say here, again?" I know the feeling of a museless day (or weeks, as the case may be.)

Monday Morning Going Down - hee. Not ever read it. Is it Spander? I have a bad habit of typing Going Down instead of Coming Down. But then, I'm a naughty girl. Gonna go do that drivin' around, listening to my SMCD cd thing and see what (if anything but air polution) happens.

Re: Wanna trade brains?

[cityphonelines.livejournal.com]

Actually, it was Spuffy and now I can't find it. I did find a Spander one though http://www.dymphna.net/ucsl/archive/dawnmisha-mondaymorning.txt. It's a series, gonna read it and see how it is.

And speaking just as one of your BFLJ, I liked the dark turn your Beatles fics were taking. Didn't think they were disturbing at all.
That's 'cause I pay you well. Seriously though, the ones I didn't post were even squicking me and I'm pretty unsquickable. I'll work on 'em tomorrow at work. Hope your drive is inspiring and not too smoggy.

[reremouse.livejournal.com]

I think Tara went along with it in support of Willow as a loved one, and in the hope that she could keep Willow from doing anything truly disastrous. Tara might also not have known how to say "no" to Willow. It's pretty hard to say "no" to Willow when she wants to do something badly enough, and Tara seems like the type to back down at that point when she doesn't know what to say.

Tara saw how much power Willow had even before they got together as girlfriends, and she'd know that if Willow really wanted to do something, the best Tara could hope for was to run damage control where she could.

[crazydiamondsue.livejournal.com]

First of all, love the icon. The "Tara was doing it out of love" viewpoint was the one I was going with. Now I just have to figure out how to have her verbalize that (or not, I mean, it is Tara) to Xander. Thanks!

[fanbot.livejournal.com]

I can see her stammer and look away when asked. She went along with it because Willow was unhappy and because everyone else was going with her, too. Re-watch the first episode of season 6 again.

Also, clearly, Willow did not spell out all the dangers. I think because of this it was easier for Tara to "tough love" her later and leave.

There's nothing wrong with asking for a sounding board. It's a good idea.

As for being least creative... we've covered this, missy.

[crazydiamondsue.livejournal.com]

I have seen "Bargaining" sooo many times I can quote the dialogue:
Willow: Tomorrow night...we're bring Buffy back.
Anya: Tomorrow? But the Discovery Channel has monkeys...
Hee! Going along because Willow said so and Xander and Anya agreed certainly works. But since I wrote Anya out and Xander hasn't committed to the plan, it could change Tara's motivation a bit. However, Willow giving her, "because I say so," works fine. Thanks for the sounding board - you guys are great.

[violethamster.livejournal.com]

Couple of thoughts:

Could have been that Tara didn't feel as though she had the right to interfere in the decision, since she wasn't anywhere near as close to Buffy as the others.

Or, since Willow can be about as open to influence as a steamroller that is crushing you flat, she may have felt unable to voice her reservations without feeling that she was drawing a line in the sand that could spell the end of her relationship with Willow.

Dude, never doubt your creativity. You have creativity coming out of your bottom. Interpreting the motivation of the characters as far as canon goes can be a real douche.

[crazydiamondsue.livejournal.com]

I love you, you know that? Paraphrasing Anya, aptly using douche (well, in a sentence - hah!)...you rock.

Could have been that Tara didn't feel as though she had the right to interfere in the decision, since she wasn't anywhere near as close to Buffy as the others.
Great point, and one I hadn't considered. She's just starting to feel like one of them at this point, and nothing says belonging like conformity. Thanks!

[anelith.livejournal.com]

I think what the others have said before me makes much sense. The only thing I can think of that might be added is that it's possible Tara could have believed that Willow would not be powerful enough to pull off the spell. She would maybe have felt it would be OK then to let her try. I offer this not as the most likely possibility, I think that the ones mentioned above are better; it's just that this is the only thought I had that someone hasn't already mentioned.

I agree that this is a conundrum because after the big lecture Tara gave Dawn about how wrong it would be to try to bring back the dead... well, I guess the only difference is that Buffy was supposedly dead from magical means not natural causes. But it's not clear that this was enough of a difference to allay Tara's misgivings.

Do you suppose Willow could have used a little whammy on Tara to persuade her?

[jedi-penguin.livejournal.com]

Do you suppose Willow could have used a little whammy on Tara to persuade her?

I've never heard that theory floated before, but now that you say it, that sounds extremely plausible. And leading towards all sorts of deliciously disturbing possible storylines...

If you don't want to go that route, however, I would agree with the person above who said that Tara simply couldn't stand up to Willow. She really does do whatever Willow says until OMWF. I suspect that she was deeply troubled by the spell but didn't know how to tell Willow no.

It's an interesting question!

[crazydiamondsue.livejournal.com]

She really does do whatever Willow says until OMWF. I suspect that she was deeply troubled by the spell but didn't know how to tell Willow no.
I agree, I think she found the entire idea terribly wrong, but Willow's determination and her repeated assurance that Buffy's death was "mystical" probably won her over. Thanks!

[crazydiamondsue.livejournal.com]

Tara could have believed that Willow would not be powerful enough to pull off the spell.
I thought about that - that it was her way of allowing Willow to work through the grief. There's a scene in "After Life" when Tara and Xander do discuss the ramifications of the spell and you get the feeling that Tara had just been patronizing Willow, but, of course, Tara and Xander are interrupted before we learn too much.

Do you suppose Willow could have used a little whammy on Tara to persuade her?
That's an excellent theory - however, one that would make a whole story. Only got 2 chapters left, so I'm gonna have to go another way, but now I wonder if she did. Explains a lot. Thanks!!!

[paynbow.livejournal.com]

I defiantely agree that she pretty much went with the flow...I think she was still visitng Denial land (Egypt is lovely this time of year) and was unwilling to believe at that point that Willow was capable of misusing magic.

[crazydiamondsue.livejournal.com]

La, la, la, la - raise the dead, Willow? Sounds lovely - you're so smart. La, la, la, la....

Thanks! :)

[spikendru.livejournal.com]

Everyone else left such good, thoughtful ideas that I can believe every single one! My own thoughts are that Tara was a genuinely nice person with a well-grounded set of ethics regarding magic. Both her mother and grandmother were witches, and I think her underlying feelings about the use of magic were bone deep, and I don't think she could really wrap her mind around the concept of someone she loved lying/hiding details from her. Not so much denial, as I don't believe it even occurred to her that Willow's ideas about magic use were different from hers. Tara saw magic as an elemental force; a grounding with nature and the earth. Until after the resurection spell, I don't think it ever dawned on her that Willow could see magic as a means to power. After that spell, I think she began to have some niggling little doubts and when Willow used magic to decorate for the engagement party, she began voicing those doubts, but prior to Bargaining, I think she just trusted Willow and assumed that they concurred about magic.

She may have begun to have questions during the arguement about her fears for Willow that turned into who has the most Lezcred, but she was brain-sucked immediately after and wasn't really "there" when Willow went all paybacky on Glory. And I think what scared her was her concerns for Willow as a person, not concerns about Willow's philosophy about magic.

Well, these are just my personal thoughts. . .and I do like some of the other ideas.

[crazydiamondsue.livejournal.com]

I really like your thoughts on how Tara believed Willow's attitude toward magic was similiar to her own. I think Tara was awed by the power in Willow and interpreted the fact that Willow didn't believe in (or hadn't yet learned to exploit) her power as Willow's respect for her power.
Willow really didn't see what she could do with magic as anything more than another learned discipline. There was nothing wrong with using chemistry or computer technology in her daily life in addition to fighting demons, why couldn't magic be utilized the same way? It makes you wonder sometimes why Giles didn't try harder to help her to understand the origins and orders of magic, especially after his Eyghon debacle. Maybe he was too busy with Buffy? Maybe because their dangers were always so immediate, their lives so full that there was never time? Hmm...really get can't behind that theory since he spent most of Season 4 watching Jeopardy! and playing guitar. But, again, that's a story in and of itself. Thanks for the input. :)

[spikendru.livejournal.com]

...really get can't behind that theory since he spent most of Season 4 watching Jeopardy! and playing guitar.

Oh, yeah. He chastized her for forgetting to bring the motherwort and stuff to do the truth spell on Spike, and obviously still thought of her as the apprentice sorcerer, but after Something Blue he was aware of the kind of power she had, and while it was still unfocused, I would have thought that that was the time for him to really make an effort to start working with her, for the reasons you mentioned. But, I think he also had kind of a blind spot where Willow was concerned. I think he continued to see her as the sidekick and was so focused on Buffy, he didn't really notice how much Willow had grown and changed. I think he saw her power as kind of a fluke: the spells that accidentially went wrong, the trying to create the ball of sunlight, etc. He still saw himself as the adult and the others as children.