Buffy Worship: some thoughts about Oz, and my OTP
What pisses me off majorly is how Oz is never mentioned after he leaves. But what pisses me off most of all is how his impact on Willow and how their relationship changed her is NEVER MENTIONED. For one thing. he helped her become the person she is - before Oz she was shy, unassertive, and had major low self confidence. But with his support and love she grew and became a stronger person. We can see the evidence of his effect on her in Restless, when she notices him passing judgement of her onto Tara in her dream. This shows not only that his opinion of her still affects her, but also hints at how she blames herself for their brutal breakup - she was not a good enough person, not cool enough, just awkward nerdy Willow.
Which leads me onto my next point - the breakup of Oz and Willow informs her actions in S6 SO MUCH. She blames herself for Oz leaving. She was so distraught at her first love deserting her that she couldn't bear going through that again if Tara left. So she did everything she could to make them stay together - she erased Tara's memory, did other magicks... It's like she's trying to create the perfect relationship, fix all the problems quickly instead of addressing them. She had no say when Oz left, no way to make it better. So she tries to prevent that happening with Tara by preventing there being any flaws in their relationship, erasing all their mistakes.
I just wish someone had pointed this out. I had more coherent thoughts but it's nearly 3am so... Oh yeah, there's this. I'm always worried that people will think Willow was always gay, but didn't realise it (which is why I hate this line in Hells Bells - "good thing I realised I was gay or else you and I in formal wear...") because this totally undermines her relationship with Oz. I love that she's gay, don't get me wrong, but I hate putting labels on things. She never would have thought of being with a woman before Tara opened her eyes, and after that she moved on to Kennedy because she liked her. So I'm not sure that she's not bi anyway. In any case, I don't think she was ALWAYS gay - that's not how it worked with Willow. And Oz was of major importance in her life and is so under-rated.
Anyway. Thoughts gone now. Sleeptime. Night folks! Hope you enjoyed my ramblings :D
~Lili
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