#a fast descent into some other propulsion toward darkness

[petpluto]

I get that the writers ‘needed’ Tara to die to get their surprise Big Bad of season 6 in Dark!Willow, but it destroys one of the better parts of season 6 for me. Which is -

Tara going back and trying with Willow is the culmination of one of the main conflicts I see in season 6; that being fear versus trust, and how various characters fail (or succeed) when confronted with a fork in the road. “Understand we’ll go hand in hand but we’ll walk alone in fear” is there for a reason. I think Willow acts out of fear for a lot of season 6, before starting to work on herself and trusting herself. Xander doesn’t go through with his marriage due to his fear. Giles *leaves the country* because he fears he’s holding Buffy back (and sub-textually, losing her again). But Tara comes back because she has spent that time alone, and chooses to trust in Willow, and to trust that letting go of the past is the right move. She triumphs where the others falter.

And she does so again and again in season 6. She becomes wholly realized as a separate character from Willow, with bonds with other members of the Scooby Gang (mostly Buffy and Dawn, but still) outside of Willow in a way other romantic partners don’t get to have. She has a life outside of Willow and outside of their group, and has more firmly found her place in that group.

And season 6 rips that away from us, for what to me is a lackluster exploration of Willow’s grief and insecurities and fears. The show that has as a running theme the tragedy of girls being used as tools for a greater “good” commits the same sin.

#buffy the vampire slayer #tara mclay #willow rosenberg #tillow #don’t get me wrong #I like the idea of Dark!Willow #and Alyson Hannigan is talented enough to pull almost anything off #but - partially because I didn’t enjoy the addiction arc in season 6 - I don’t like this turn #it kind of bored me? #and Alyson Hannigan very rarely doesn’t deliver #and tillow isn’t my favorite ship and Tara isn’t my favorite character #but they do something really cool with Tara here #and Willow and Tara here #anyway I wish they’d come up with a different way to make Dark!Willow appear #a slow descent into a controlling force #a fast descent into some other propulsion toward darkness #idk man #I know it’s been discussed to death #fridging girl love interests #burying your gays #but the story told through Tara is understated and sweet and uplifting #and the story of her death is just a stepping stone for Willow #it sucks all the more that it happens after she becomes her own character

[stories-from-my-mind-to-yours]

You don’t know you’re alive until you’re almost dead. Chapter Zero. Genesis.

Year 2061. July first. Yellowstone national park. Yellowstone Caldera.

The earth heaved and shook. The groundwater was made toxic by the sulphuric gasses that pushed up through the earths crust. The wildlife began leaving the increasingly inhospitable area, almost as if they knew what was to come.

Humanity had been warned, but wouldn't listen. Thankfully, the earth remained calm for now.

Year 2114. December 21st. 9:00 pm Friday. Northern Sweden.

31 year old Lars Karlsson, advanced physicist at I.a.c.e. (Institute for advancement of clean energy) had fallen asleep on the couch. They had left Stockholm 06:30 in the morning, and driven for 11 hours, to their cabin at lake Hornavan, just north of Arjeplog, for a 14 day Christmas holiday. His 26-year old wife Lena, pharmacologist and yoga instructor, was singing and dancing to the kitchen radio, while fixing some snacks. She looked out the window at the raging snowstorm, and was thankful to be home. On a clear day she could see the village where she was born and raised. And she was thankful to be out of the noisy, dirty capital for the first time all year. She put her hands on her growing stomach and smiled. "Thirteen more weeks till I can see you two." She couldn't wait to be a mom and show them all her favorite spots in the mountains.

She put away the bags with chips and candy, closed the pantry and the dishwasher, and reached for the bowl on the counter. She gasped and grasped for the edge of the counter as a sharp stabbing pain radiated out from her stomach.

Lars awoke to his wife screaming his name. "LAAAARS!" He stumbled into the dining room, his wife stood in the doorway to the kitchen, her grey sweatpants were stained dark red down the inside of both her legs. He froze. He didn't know what to do! "Could you possibly call 112 Lars? NOOW!" Her screeching voice jolted him into action. He fumbled desperately with his phone. He misdailed 112 three times before he got it right. Lena felt something warm slowly running down her legs. She didn't look, knowing full well what it was but she didn't want to see. She had to keep calm, she closed her eyes and thought of her babies. Seconds felt like hours. A woman answered and she heard "what's your emergency?" Lars stuttered, made some strange noises and couldn't form a single word, let alone a sentence. "Give me the phone Lars." He held it out towards her, across the entire dining room. Her patience had its limits tested. "Come here with it, please, Lars." He was not good in high stress situations. "Hello?" Said the voice on the phone. "Hi, I'm Lena Karlsson, we're up at Hornavan, I'm 29 weeks along with twins, and I just had a bleed. A big one." She listened intently to the woman on the other end, explaining that the helicopter couldn't fly in the storm, and the closest delivery room was at least 3 hours away on a good day. "Well we don't have a choice do we? I can't do this alone, and my husband is completely useless right now." Lars looked at her and nodded in agreement. "We'll get there, one way or another." She hung up the phone, her mind racing. She knew time was of the essence, but her fear kept getting in the way of her reasoning. She knew she had to solve this. Normally, their cabin was perfect in her mind, there wasn't even much of a road leading up to it. Their 4x4 Jeep had barely made it up to the cabin. That would probably get stuck in the snow somewhere. In the shed outside sat the Yamaha 360 Propulse snowmobile they bought last year. It was definitely fast enough. On flat hard snow it would do 140 mph. They'd be there in 80 minutes at that speed. Or crash and die horribly. Stay here and die for sure? Or save her babies? There was no doubt in her mind. "Lars, go start the snowmobile." He nodded and hurried out the door. Lena went to the hallway and opened the closet. Gloves, overalls, boots, helmets. Everything was where it should be. She heard the high pitched whine of the Yamaha turbine spooling up. Thank god the battery wasn't dead. She got out of her bloodied pants, put on the insulating inner suit, and stepped in the overall. Lars came back in. "It's just outside the door." "Good, get dressed." He didn't even think, he just did what he was told. He helped her with her zipper and helmet, then closed his own. They stepped out into the snowstorm looking like two inflated racing drivers.

Lars climbed on the front seat of the snowmobile. "Are you sure you want to drive?" She shouted over the wind and the idling turbine. He thought for a second, then scooted backwards. She climbed on carefully, and sat down as slow as she could. She wasn't in extreme pain, but she didn't want to push it. She put the dead mans grip on her wrist, turned on the lights and the heat in the handle and seats. She put it in gear and started the descent down the steep mountainside. She had picked this one for its superior handling in deep snow and long range. It's turbine engine used so little fuel they hadn't even filled it up last year, it had just under half a tank left. She hoped it would be enough. She steered carefully past the trees that marked their path down, winding slowly down to the main road. When the path ended she couldn't see the road, but she saw that there were no trees. She turned it in the right direction and pressed her thumb down hard on the throttle.

360 horsepower of supercharged nitrogen turbine erupted into life, propelling them forward so hard she almost lost her grip on the handlebars. Lars who couldn't really see anything wasn't ready and almost fell off. He was scared out of his mind, but Lena only thought of her babies. A stray thought crossed her mind as she saw the needle pass 120 mph. If we crash now, we won't even have time to feel it. We'll just be dead. She didn't look at the speedometer again.

Five days later, December 27th, Lena and Lars waited for the doctor to discharge her and the babies. Lars had fueled the snowmobile the day before and bought a sled to transport their babies in. He had been ambushed at the gas station by a reporter that had heard of the story about the speed demon mom on a quest to save her twins. They were in the papers today. After a quick chat with the doctor they we're on their way out to the parking lot, where the same reporter wanted an interview with Lena as well. She kindly declined, with a long journey ahead of them, she just wanted to go home.

"Please," he begged, "just one picture?" She looked at Lars. "Sure." he replied.

Lena held the boy, and Lars held the girl. "Have you decided any names yet?" Lena nodded and looked at her son. "Erik." Lars nodded and looked at his baby girl. "Sophia?" He looked to Lena. She nodded approvingly. "Sophia."

#sci fi #story time #earth is a death world #humans are space orcs #humans are weird