Ahhhh... Season 4... the agony... the exquisite torture... the trolls... the triumph...I remember watching HUSH and my eyebrows shooting straight up to the moon at the sight of Willow and Tara clasping hands in the famous soda machine scene. I remember racing to the Bronze (where I used to post quite frequently) to see if anyone else had caught "it" and actually (in all fairness) there was a small crew of Bronzers whose subtextual hearts were aflutter...
I remember coming home one Saturday night and seeing several emails telling me to check out the Bronze coz Joss had paid a visit full of sapphic goodness. And that's when the shit really hit the fan. I still cannot believe the masses of fans who were convinced he was lying and joking when the post oozed rare but real sincerity about the storyline. It just got uglier... the long wait for the rose floating ep... the people bleating endlessly about how Willow is straight or it's just a phase or Tara is a stalker etc.
I remember the clashing and ludicrous "spoilers" (anyone remember the one that said that Tara would end up falling for Xander??? -- as well as the ones people have already mentioned). I remember battling all over the Internet about sexuality and arguments over the storyline being "out of character" etc. etc. I remember dashing to the computer Sunday AM to wait impatiently for the Wildfeed and my ecstasy over the "WAY" wildfeed report. I remember finding the W/T email list and then making my way to chat where some of the old timers and I spent hours dissecting and discussing every blink, sigh, camera angle, line, etc. of Willow and Tara's. I remember reading Doug Petrie's article where he talked explicitly about W/T as a couple and the writers wanting to avoid lesbian stereotypes -- I must've read that thing a million times just to assure myself that it wasn't a dream.
I remember the roller coaster ride of it all -- one minute believing that W/T would become maintext and the next minute girding myself for bitter disappointment and historic betrayal. I remember how astounded I was that there were still idiots who didn't understand Flaming O or "I am you know."
OK, getting tired so flash forward... I was appalled and sickened by the Bronze after NMR aired. I was giddy with joy and nothing could have deflated me as effectively as all the venomous posts. I took refuge with all the kitties (who weren't kitties then since there wasn't a board but you know what I mean).
Also I remember how MUCH Joss visited the Bronze in that period. He talked so much and a good portion was about W/T and I was so gratified that he cared so deeply about the characters and the storyline and felt it important enough to speak up to fans. I loved his blunt and funny posts post-NMR.
What an intense, wacky, and dramatic period that was! And here we are, battle scarred troopers, world weary, and still purring...
EDITED TO ADD:
I remember Bob and I tag teaming in debates at the Cross and Stake Board (which I don't visit anymore).
I remember emailing and harrassing webmasters of certain Buffy sites who had sources and script info to get the latest scoop on W/T.
I remember checking spoiler sites every five minutes.
I remember my rage at people who didn't get it, didn't see it, refused to get it, refused to see it, and hid their homophobia in a veil of intellectual bullshit. I have to say that my skin definitely hardened after that and I now feel much more mellow about people who are dumb and clueless. (OK, not entirely mellow but...)
[This message has been edited by judy (edited January 06, 2002).]
