Why do you think Tara is so popular?

[EVIL UU]

@Robb Stark

Does she have one storyline, just one, that doesn't involve Willow?

Her friendship with Buffy.

@makeupdoll91

I mean when she was mad at Willow for doing magic ..just shut the **** up already and let Willow be Willow.

I can agree with that. I mean, I don't hate Tara the character, I think that she's OK but I kinda detest Tara the Willow's girlfriend, you know what I mean? She's an absolutely terrible partner - jealous, insecure, unsupportive, shortsighted little crab who brings her ideology ( religion? ) into a romantic relationship. What a bitch.

Yeah Tara, shut the **** up.

@WillowTaraHolic

Tara's not Willow's mom, she's her partner. It's not her job to tell Willow Will, drugs are bad, OK? Stop it!. Her job is to ask Will, what is wrong? Why do you get high so much? Yeah, why does she? Tara does not care. This is the problem here, Willow's barely holding it together and Tara does not seem to give a shit.

 

[WillowTaraHolic]

@WillowTaraHolic

Tara's not Willow's mom, she's her partner. It's not her job to tell Willow Will, drugs are bad, OK? Stop it!. Her job is to ask Will, what is wrong? Why do you get high so much? Yeah, why does she? Tara does not care. This is the problem here, Willow's barely holding it together and Tara does not seem to give a shit.

I can agree that maybe Tara should have talked about it more with Willow, but there's only so much the writers can do with all this other crap that's going on.

HOWEVER, Tara reacted the way she did because she loved Willow. If Willow was going to slowly kill herself, plus treat her girlfriend terribly (Remember, Willow played with Tara's MIND. Not once, but twice!) Tara wanted nothing to do with it. Willow did it on her own accord, but Tara was just trying to stop Willow before things could get really bad. Again, if Willow died, I think we would all feel shitty, wouldn't we? It's because of Tara that Willow quit magic so that she couldn't hurt anyone. (Remember Dawn? Yeah, she almost died because of Willow. Would Buffy be pissed and even more depressed if Dawn died? Oh yeah. Plus, we might still lose Willow if Dawn had died because of that.)

 

[Evil Angelus 95]

I can agree with that. I mean, I don't hate Tara the character, I think that she's OK but I kinda detest Tara the Willow's girlfriend, you know what I mean? She's an absolutely terrible partner - jealous, insecure, unsupportive, shortsighted little crab who brings her ideology ( religion? ) into a romantic relationship. What a bitch.

Yeah Tara, shut the **** up.

Wow, so she's terrible because she doesn't support Willow's addiction to Magick, even though it's obviously doing more harm than good? Buffy was ripped out of Heaven because Willow brought her back. I'd say that that's using Magick to indirectly harm someone. Granted, Willow didn't know what she was doing, but still. Plus later on, Willow's Magick hurt Dawn.

And no-offense, but as a fan of Tara, I'm seriously offended by those insults. Can we please keep everything calm here? Seriously. No need to cast names around. This is the same kind of crap that happened in the Season 6 thread about Willow playing with Tara's mind, and the Admins nearly shut that down.

So please. Cut out with the names, and have a civilized discussion.

Tara's not Willow's mom, she's her partner. It's not her job to tell Willow Will, drugs are bad, OK? Stop it!. Her job is to ask Will, what is wrong? Why do you get high so much? Yeah, why does she? Tara does not care. This is the problem here, Willow's barely holding it together and Tara does not seem to give a shit.

Tara obviously cares because she tried to get Willow to stop. The Magicks were taking over everything Willow did, and it was starting to hurt those around her. I'd say that trying to get Willow to stop before the Magicks went so far as to kill or seriously hurt someone would qualify as "giving a shit".

There are seriously times I wish Season 6 and Season 7 hadn't been made. The show was better off ending at Season 5.

 

[Robb Stark]

@Robb Stark


Her friendship with Buffy.

I don't know if I would call that an arc. Everyone on the show interacts with Buffy, and Tara probably constitutes among the least amount of screen time with her. I can think of one meaningful moment between Tara and Buffy, when Buffy loses it over sleeping with Spike.

 

[Fuffy Baith]

The only season I like Tara in is S6, when she breaks up with Willow. I also never unstood why people love her. I know that she's nice and shy and selfless and in love with Willow and all that, but that just makes her boring to me. She's really only there to be Willow's girlfriend, she doesn't add anything really to the scooby gang other than helping out with magic and she doesn't seem to have much of a life outside of Willow. At least with Oz he was in a band, drove a van and turned into a werewolf every month which makes him more interesting to me.

Now when she leaves Willow, we start to see a more confident Tara and we see her and Buffy interacting more and that's when I begin to like her because it's not all about Willow. I also don't find Amber Benson attractive which does not help Tara's case in my mind. I don't hate Tara, I just find her a bit bland and don't really care about getting to know her character and her story. The only moment that she stands out to me in S5 is when her and Anya are walking down the street and run into April the Robot. They're talking about computers and stock markets and that's the only time I ever get a sense of Tara having a life or interests outside of Willow and magic. I wish that we had more moments like that. If she and Anya had their own little stories going on outside of Willow and Xander, I would like them more. However I was extremely sad when she died, because it's so tragic.

 

[thetopher]

I like Tara just fine.

I don't love her because she doesn't really have any character faults, unless shyness is a fault. To really love a character I've got to see faults (likable ones) that are overcome through experience and character growth.

But Tara is good, and kind, she's sweet and she's a supportive girlfriend. (I see that a lot of the Tara hate here- not the indifference- is coming from 'ubermagic' Willow fans. )

S6 Willow is deeply, deeply unlikable, even before she starts toying with peoples minds. I get completely why Tara dumped her. (in a very sorrowful and gentle way, because Tara is just that nice.)
Willow is self-centered, manipulative and arrogant. We see that in her conversation with Giles at the start of the Season. I'm just surprised that Tara could stand to be in a relationship with her after that- hell, she really is Saint-like.
She only leaves because she feels that if she does she might not be Tara after Willow gets through with her, she might end up all 'Stepford'.

 

[WillowTaraHolic]

Here's maybe some reasons why (I myself am not sure why I like Tara... I just do):

Her journey is very relatable. I was once very shy in school, I'm sure all of us have been shy at one time or another. (Unless you're like a born leader or something, which I doubt many of us are, definitely not me) She grew out of it eventually, just as many people do. Sorta cliche, I guess, but it's very real, and there's not much demon-slaying required to do so.

It's the little moments that made her likable, and I think the fact that she's different from other characters could have some sort of effect on that.

Also, I think the fact that we don't know much about her could be very attracting to her. It leaves room to create what wasn't there. I mean, we fanfiction writers love a good story, don't we Evil Angelus?

 

[YummySushiPJs]

I like Tara because, even though it's not really said on the show, I think she represents an all encompassing "good" in a show that focusses a lot on evil. She is an innocent soul.

I recently re-watched Conversations with Dead People, and I like the fact that The First Evil doesn't appear as Tara. I used to like it because to me it felt more realistic that it would play on Willow's guilt by not allowing her to see Tara. But this time it struck me, perhaps there are some, very few, people who are so good, so pure, that The First Evil simply can't access their bodily image. And Tara is one of them.

 

[WillowTaraHolic]

But this time it struck me, perhaps there are some, very few, people who are so good, so pure, that The First Evil simply can't access their bodily image. And Tara is one of them.

Actually... that's a good thought. I never even had the mind to think of that. That's actually quite comforting.

 

[EVIL UU]

@WillowTaraHolic
I support Tara's decision to leave Willow, personal safety is the most important thing after all but I do dislike how Tara comes back. In a relationship, you're either together through the good times and through the bad times or you're not truly together at all. Tara's there through the good times but when the bad times start she washes her hands and runs away. Tara has problems, Willow is there for her, Willow has problems, Tara bails only to come back when Willow's fine again. That's a shitty, selfish attitude.

Again, if Willow died, I think we would all feel shitty, wouldn't we?

Well, I'm OK with Willow dying in season 6 mostly because I'm completely apathetic towards Willow's development or lack thereof in season 7.

It's because of Tara that Willow quit magic so that she couldn't hurt anyone.

Nah, she quit because of Buffy. Losing Tara was not enough, it was the fear of losing Buffy too that made Willow reconsider her actions.

@Evil Angelus 95
Willow's addiction is more like an eating disorder as in she can't really stop eating, you know what I mean? An alcoholic can just stop drinking beer or whatever but a person with an eating disorder cannot stop eating. Willow can't quit magic because yeah, it's a part of her, but more importantly, because without her magic the world might just end. This is why Tara's fanaticism is completely ass-backwards and quite harmful. Willow needs to learn how to menage magic, she cannot and for the sake of the world should not quit so yeah, I think that Tara should bloody support that. Help Willow, be there for her, talk, try to understand.

And honestly, Willow's life is hell. Six years of monster fighting, terror, deaths, stress and misery, add her childhood and we're what, surprised that she's into substance abuse? If she needs to get high to stay functional and keep on doing what she does then hell, she should, why not?

Buffy was ripped out of Heaven because Willow brought her back. I'd say that that's using Magick to indirectly harm someone.

I think that it's one of the best things Willow has ever done. Was it painful to Buffy? Sure, but look at the big picture. The world needs the slayer and Willow brought the slayer back to the world to kill demons, save lives, avert apocalypses and so on. You know what, most of Willow's big magic actions are like that, good and evil at the same time. Angel's curse, OK the world gets a champion but at the same time some poor innocent bloke gets torn out of the afterlife. Simultaneous great good and great evil.

Tara obviously cares because she tried to get Willow to stop. The Magicks were taking over everything Willow did, and it was starting to hurt those around her. I'd say that trying to get Willow to stop before the Magicks went so far as to kill or seriously hurt someone would qualify as "giving a shit".

Oh, she does care about Willow abusing magic but she does not care about the WHY? Tara makes no effort to understand what Willow is going through. It's a textbook loneliness in a relationship. Look, I kinda like Tara, check out my post on the first page by the way, I like her sense of humor, her warmth and her heroism but as a girlfriend and as a partner she's kinda awful.

And no-offense, but as a fan of Tara, I'm seriously offended by those insults.

That's OK.

So please. Cut out with the names

No, I will not. It's not against the rules.

So please. Cut out with the names, and have a civilized discussion.

What, I'm uncivilized now? I did not attack you or anybody else personally. I simply expressed my opinion. You may like it, you may dislike it, you may agree with it, you may disagree - that's fine. We can debate it too.

 

[WillowTaraHolic]

@WillowTaraHolic
I support Tara's decision to leave Willow, personal safety is the most important thing after all but I do dislike how Tara comes back. In a relationship, you're either together through the good times and through the bad times or you're not truly together at all. Tara's there through the good times but when the bad times start she washes her hands and runs away. Tara has problems, Willow is there for her, Willow has problems, Tara bails only to come back when Willow's fine again. That's a shitty, selfish attitude.



Well, I'm OK with Willow dying in season 6 mostly because I'm completely apathetic towards Willow's development or lack thereof in season 7.



Nah, she quit because of Buffy. Losing Tara was not enough, it was the fear of losing Buffy too that made Willow reconsider her actions.

To keep the party polite, I won't even reply to that first paragraph of wrongness.

If Willow died, then there isn't exactly a series. Chosen as we know it would not happen, and there would be no Big Bad for season 6. But I'm getting off-topic here. :/

I don't think I worded it right, and I apologize for that. Tara was a big part of Willow decision to quit, and so was Buffy. I just don't think Willow realized how right Tara was until Buffy really got pissed off at Willow.

Maybe we should just drop this whole thing... I regret even trying to say anything about it. Tara is obviously a very disputed character, and I probably shouldn't bring her up that much again. I'm sorry.

 

[thetopher]

@WillowTaraHolic
I support Tara's decision to leave Willow, personal safety is the most important thing after all but I do dislike how Tara comes back. In a relationship, you're either together through the good times and through the bad times or you're not truly together at all. Tara's there through the good times but when the bad times start she washes her hands and runs away. Tara has problems, Willow is there for her, Willow has problems, Tara bails only to come back when Willow's fine again. That's a shitty, selfish attitude.

But the problem is that Willow is doing bad things to Tara, and refuses to acknowledge it as a bad thing.

It's literally the equivelant of an alcoholic who, when they get drunk, smack their partner around. You don't stay with them when they do that, you get the hell out for your own well-being.

The only reason that Tara even comes back is that 1) Willow admts that she has a problem and 2) Willow's relationship with magic changes, she becomes more like the Willow that Tara fell for in the first place.

You don't stay with somebody if they abuse you. that's sick, crazy. talk. A person should look after their own well-being if their physical (or in this case) mental health is threatened, even if its by the person they love.
However If the 'addict' for want of a better word, can show that they can change and become a better person, then you give them a second chance.

Tara did the only thing she felt that she could do, she got to minimum safe distance.

The person who shouldn't have left, imo, was Giles, but thats a different thread.

 

[Blaze]

I can agree with that. I mean, I don't hate Tara the character, I think that she's OK but I kinda detest Tara the Willow's girlfriend, you know what I mean? She's an absolutely terrible partner - jealous, insecure, unsupportive, shortsighted little crab who brings her ideology ( religion? ) into a romantic relationship. What a bitch.

Yeah Tara, shut the **** up.

I don't really understand this feeling. When has Tara ever shown jealousy? She was completely willing to let Willow go back to Oz if it made her happy.

Insecure, well that's a character trait of Tara herself, early on she shows insecurities for everything. She's scared the group won't accept her is she's part demon. She's scared Willow is only experimenting. By s6, she's not insecure though, or at least I can't think of any time where she was insecure.

She's also very supportive of Willow, that is until Willow violates her mind. I'm with you on this, a partner should be with someone through the good and the bad if they even want to think about having the good, but that goes straight out the window when abuse is involved. When abuse is involved you gtfo. That's what Tara did, and that's what she should have done. Now I get that she should have asked Willow more questions and tried different ways of solving the problem, but Willow didn't exactly give her the change to do that.

Also, never got the religion analogy with Tara. And many people have brought that up, I just don't get it. In the verse, magick isn't viewed as a religion of any sort (unlike the Wiccan religion in real life), all Tara did was warn Willow of the powers of magick and the natural balance of things. Tara wasn't wrong on that. Those aren't ideologies, those are truths.

 

[Buffy Summers]

Guys, people are allowed to have different opinions on characters. This is not a "fan" thread, so if you don't want to read negative comments about the character, then please stay out of the thread.

I don't really understand this feeling. When has Tara ever shown jealousy? She was completely willing to let Willow go back to Oz if it made her happy.

I think that was low self-esteem, not selflessness.

 

[Blaze]

@WillowTaraHolic
I support Tara's decision to leave Willow, personal safety is the most important thing after all but I do dislike how Tara comes back. In a relationship, you're either together through the good times and through the bad times or you're not truly together at all. Tara's there through the good times but when the bad times start she washes her hands and runs away. Tara has problems, Willow is there for her, Willow has problems, Tara bails only to come back when Willow's fine again. That's a shitty, selfish attitude.

So this means that a person only deserves to be treated right if they are willing to be treated badly in the bad times. I get being there through the bad times, but this logic doesn't work if the person treats you like dirt, aka how Willow treated Tara. This is a case of Tara being with Willow when Willow treats her right, not Tara being with Willow during only the good times. Also, notice how even after their break up Tara was there for Willow. In that birthday episode (which I forget the name), Tara still stands up for Willow, I don't know but I get the feeling Tara is still there for Willow as long as Willow is willing to help herself. But aside from that you can't really help an addict that doesn't want to be help.

Willow's addiction is more like an eating disorder as in she can't really stop eating, you know what I mean? An alcoholic can just stop drinking beer or whatever but a person with an eating disorder cannot stop eating. Willow can't quit magic because yeah, it's a part of her, but more importantly, because without her magic the world might just end. This is why Tara's fanaticism is completely ass-backwards and quite harmful. Willow needs to learn how to menage magic, she cannot and for the sake of the world should not quit so yeah, I think that Tara should bloody support that. Help Willow, be there for her, talk, try to understand.

I like this analogy. Never really thought about it this way but it makes more sense than the drug addict analogy. And Tara might have been wrong to ask Willow to stop, but she didn't know any better. Prior to s7, magick was always treated as something very dangerous that has nothing to do with being part of the person. They created that storyline for s7 when they realized they cornered themselves with Willow and her magick. And you know what, this is all Giles' fault, not Tara. Giles brings Willow to the coven and they are the ones that have the knowledge to teach Willow control. Why the heck did he not do this in s6. Tara's not the one that knew about the coven. I kind of really dislike Giles' actions in s6.

And honestly, Willow's life is hell. Six years of monster fighting, terror, deaths, stress and misery, add her childhood and we're what, surprised that she's into substance abuse? If she needs to get high to stay functional and keep on doing what she does then hell, she should, why not?

Why not? Because she almost killed all of her friend at least once. Wanna ruin your life with substance abuse, go right ahead, I won't judge. Want to kill your friends, I kinda care.

---------- Post added at 09:42 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:35 AM ----------

I think that was low self-esteem, not selflessness.

I think you may be right about that. Tara thought she didn't have change against Oz. I still maintain the opinion that Tara wasn't the jealous type, but yes, she 100% had low self-esteem.

 

[Evil Angelus 95]

Oh, she does care about Willow abusing magic but she does not care about the WHY? Tara makes no effort to understand what Willow is going through. It's a textbook loneliness in a relationship. Look, I kinda like Tara, check out my post on the first page by the way, I like her sense of humor, her warmth and her heroism but as a girlfriend and as a partner she's kinda awful.



That's OK.



No, I will not. It's not against the rules.



What, I'm uncivilized now? I did not attack you or anybody else personally. I simply expressed my opinion. You may like it, you may dislike it, you may agree with it, you may disagree - that's fine. We can debate it too.

You know what, forget I said anything. I'm obviously going to be wrong in your eyes anyway, and I just don't care. I'm gonna be wrong anyway, just like I always am on here.

I don't feel like discussing this with someone who can't refrain from calling the character in question names. That, in my mind, is immature and just uncivilized.

I'd say grow up, but that's more than likely an attack.

Bye. I'm reminded why I don't post here a whole lot anymore.

 

[Still a Scoobie]

You know what, forget I said anything. I'm obviously going to be wrong in your eyes anyway, and I just don't care. I'm gonna be wrong anyway, just like I always am on here.

I don't feel like discussing this with someone who can't refrain from calling the character in question names. That, in my mind, is immature and just uncivilized.

I'd say grow up, but that's more than likely an attack.

Bye. I'm reminded why I don't post here a whole lot anymore.

Don't let it get you down Evil Angelus. Most of us enjoy reading what you've got to say. (And all the right-minded people agree with you )

 

[Buffy Summers]

Okay, time to cool it. Mountains are being made out of mole hills.

1.) This is a discussion. People are going to disagree. That is the entire point. Everyone has favorite characters, but if you cannot accept that other people feel differently than you then as I've already said once stay out of the thread.

2.) Everyone is entitled to their opinion, there is not right and wrong opinion. Let's remember that, shall we?

Now, let's continue the discussion, minus the hysterics please.

 

[HisMrs]

Honestly, I never realized Tara was so popular til I joined this board. I think it's because the Willow/Tara relationship was one of the first relationships between openly gay characters. Other than that fact, Tara seems like such a bland character to me. I did like when the writers gave her and Buffy a little bit of friendship outside of Tillow, but Tara never really made me love her.

 

[Taake]

Honestly, I never realized Tara was so popular til I joined this board. I think it's because the Willow/Tara relationship was one of the first relationships between openly gay characters. Other than that fact, Tara seems like such a bland character to me. I did like when the writers gave her and Buffy a little bit of friendship outside of Tillow, but Tara never really made me love her.

You know it's funny, it's not until the boards the I inversely realized that Tara was/ could be unpopular.

I guess it never occured to me because I absolutely love Tara. I can't even really explain why. I just absolutely, full heartedly, adore her. And I did almost from the moment she came on screen. I guess there's a quality in her that appeals to me... I really can't put it into words. I just felt that the show was better off for having her than being without her (though her death was one of the most shocking, effectful things, I've seen on TV)