Can I just remind people...

[Hair Annoyed]

This is why I wish the Spoiler Forum had not been closed. It contained all the bitterness while The Kitten had all the sweetness. Once you closed the SF that bitterness leaked in here. Maybe you could bring it back. Change the name if you want. Something like Bitterness Central. There could be rules restricting certain subjects (like "Joss sucks!") to the BC. The Kitten itself could again become the happy sanctuary it once was.

[AutumnT]

[quote:0306179e15][b:0306179e15][i:0306179e15]Quote:[/i:0306179e15][/b:0306179e15]

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It's important to remember that this board isn't a spouse

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[/quote:0306179e15] I'm pretty sure no one here ever thought it was.

[tommo]

Wait...you mean...? Oh god. And here's me introducing the Kitten Board to my parents next weekend. Dammit. There goes that relationship.

As for the Spoiler Forum; it really serves us no purpose now that we're not in the spoiler game. Who knows, if it becomes relevant then it may be resurrected but that is in the hands of the mods and, ultimately, Xita. And the bitterness is a whole lot more muted on here than it ever was in the Spoiler Forum. But you know, I think that's possibly a good thing.

[Hair Annoyed]

But sometimes the fanfic in the Pens is the next best thing.

[Sheridan]

Well there are no spoilers and most of the speculative energy is being poured into Pens now. As for the bitterness well its inevitable after all thats happened, and it really [i:bb0739b832] isn't[/i:bb0739b832] as bad as it was on the spoiler forum towards the end, I think a lot of it was vented there.

[Garner]

Actually this is something that I have thought a bit about the last week or so. I do not see how the KB can continue in the same format it has prviously with Tara dead. It is hard to have a W/T centered board when one of the couple isn't there.

Obviously the Pens section will go on, and a good thing too. It might be the last bastion of W/T goodness out there. I look forward to reading, and writing (assuming I have any talent) a lot of good W/T fanfic in the future.

However, what does that leave for the Kitten side? Some discussion of the books or the comics, especially the Willow and Tara two parter coming up, but what else? Unfortunately I see the community starting to fragment and disipate as members go their own way. Some will never get over what Joss and ME did, others will leave it behind, still others WILL move on to other aspects of the show. How will the community continue when the basis for its existence goes away? Perhaps that is something Xita, the other moderators, and the old hands are considering. I have no answers. Eventually the comics will catch up to the show, that is happening quicker than I'd like, the books will too, not as many people read as watch the show anyway, and side issues can only sustain the board so long. What will draw me back to the board? As time goes on and W/T fade it seems inevitable that so will the Kitten side of the site.

I'm not trying to be a downer or all doom and gloom. I found the KB late in the show's run, have enjoyed many of the threads here, and loved having a W/T haven. I don't want to see that go away, and with the Pens side it won't entirely. But again, that side seems to be a smaller community. I've mentioned before that the real harm done by the death storyline was to all of us as a whole. The bitterness and anger are natural reactions, but without the source or our love, it is hard to project the same positive and happy feelings/thoughts on the board.

I hope that I am wrong. I hope that Xita and the others come up with something, and perhaps just the shared camraderie will be enough, to sustain this unique and enjoyable site. I bring this up here, probably in the wrong place as I always do, just so people start thinking about the future a bit and so better minds can come up with an answer.

Garner

[xita]

No I totally agree, we need to think of the future. I was hoping and I think it has happened that the season over and the trolls have gone home that the kitties could come together and speak of a future. I think it's important. There is also no rush.. summers are always slow and less people visit the board. It's a good time to think about stuff and really think of a future, cause I love this community and I don't want to lose it. Aside from all the Buffy stuff, that will have to be resolved somehow... this summer. I mean it would have been over next year regardless. When Tara first showed up on the scene, we weren't sure she would last the season. The board was created with that fear always in mind, in some ways it has lasted longer than I had hoped initially. Certainly Pens is unchanged and that can go indefinitely as is. And that is a comfort.

I love the kitties.

[MadeinNZ]

And the kitties love you.

[tabularasa]

Thank you , thank you , thank you Tyche! As a (former) fan of BtVS (I say former 'cause, I along with all other W/T fans was flushed down the shitter at the end of this oh-so-lousy season 6) I fled here to the Kitten board where my beautiful Tara lives 24/7 with her gorgeous Willow. This has become a haven for me to deal with the sadness and rejection I felt after ME abandonded the W/T relationship in an effort to save a mediocre season. Whatever to their production issues...the point is this: I don't give a flaming fuck about Willow and her relationship with anyone other than Tara..."OUR Tara" (Goddess bless you for specifying that my dear!).

Thanks Kittens for providing an awesome, safe place to love and adore those two drop-dead gorgeous women...W/T FOREVER!!!!!

[Taz]

well done, very well done.

[urnofosiris]

[quote:a0bc80c59d][b:a0bc80c59d][i:a0bc80c59d]Quote:[/i:a0bc80c59d][/b:a0bc80c59d]

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I do not see how the KB can continue in the same format it has prviously with Tara dead. It is hard to have a W/T centered board when one of the couple isn't there.

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[/quote:a0bc80c59d]

Well it is hard obviously, but not as hard as it would be if we'd continue to follow and discuss the canon of the show. The board was created because of Willow and Tara, and they are no longer on that show, so until they return that show is over for me. I look at it as having ended one year sooner than expected, and unfortunately because of the way it ended for now it is hard to even think of the good that show once held for me (in general I mean, not just WT).

As for the format of the board. Willow and Tara are the focus, and there is no reason why they can't be anymore. There are still 40+ episodes with wonderful WT goodness in them to discuss. WT are not the only topics of discussion of the Kitten however, sometimes to my chagrin I do not even see a thread about them on the first page, but this is a gay friendly board where gay topics, personal topics, silly topics, serious topics are discussed along with Willow and Tara. It has been this way for as long as I have been on board here.

The season is over now, the show is over for many of us, the spoiler forum is closed (for which I am very glad, it served it's purpose, it swallowed up most of my time and it brought in not such nice elements from outside who did not give a toss about WT), but the board is still very much alive. I don't think we need to change the format as the focus remains the same, except that BtVS is no longer part of WT and therefore the Kitten. No one knows how it will be a year from now, but I firmly believe BtVS itself is not needed to keep this board going, and if it were, well then that would be too high a price for me as well.

[Charlie]

Ive been thinking a lot about the future of the Kitten. I spend so much time with younger gay kids, talking with them, listening, hopefully helping them through what is a bloody awful time (ie. coming to terms and coming out). The Board is SO important for them yknow, I direct a lot of them here, sometimes whether theyre Buffy fans or not. They all end up falling in love with W/T but, more importantly, they find a community that doesnt judge, that is made up of lovely, welcoming, intelligent, adorable people, where they can be themselves and be accepted. That matters. And that for me is one of the most important things about this Board.

Im hoping that the sense of community that exists here (that Ive never found anywhere else on the net) is strong enough to survive Taras death. Pens will obviously carry on but Im hoping that the Kitten will as well. Sure, some things will have to change but I havent heard anybody say yet that theyre abandoning the Board as well as ME/Buffy. Discussion of the future is welcome and needed, but I think the Kittens are well aware of how important and special this board is. I dont think were going to forget that in a hurry.

[Killin Joke]

Uh, you might wanna rephrase the term "drop-dead" gorgeous women, tabularasa Better safe than sorry, huh...

I have utter faith (Faith, I wish ) the mods can, in co-operation with us other kitties, find a way to keep this board going. The mere thought of finding like-minded people here feels... good to know. Hugs

[Garner]

First off, I am glad that people are thinking about the future of the board. Though I have only been here since January, I have found it a wonderful online home (actually this is the first and only board I bother to post on) and would hate to see it destroyed. considering what the shape of the board will be for next year now helps ensure that it WILL go on.

Now, I dont want to go off on a rant here, but...

It bothered me a bit yesterday when I saw it posted here, and the more I thought about it the more I decided that I do not agree with the idea of having no discussion of normal BtVS stuff, meaning next season, here just because this is a W/T board. Obviously the bulk of what is here should be W/T centered and have them as the focus, but even at this point not all do. I think there are a number of reasons why limited general Buffy discussion should not only be allowed, but in fact encouraged.

First, and I think foremost, sure there are a lot of other boards that I can discuss Buffy in general on. But, I dont often go to those boards because they do not have the same outlook on the show that I found here. If I post something like "I cant believe they would have Willow get over Taras death so quickly, this seems so out of character and the lack of understanding from the rest of the scoobies..." on say the Bronze, no one there will really understand my viewpoint. They don't and didnt care that much about W/T and what affect they had on the show. If I want a place to commiserate over Taras absence, vent how much I miss her presence, or just feel that others with a similar outlook are discussing the show, I need to do that here on the Kitten Board. We all view the show through the W/T lens and I see no reason that cant continue. Yeah, there may be some who refuse to watch or absolutely hate the show now and others who dont. Will those groups agree? No, but we should be able to get along and accept each others divergent views. Diverse views are good. If not everyone would be heterosexual and this whole board would be irrelevant. If things became too much of a problem then have two threads for each episode: one bitterly criticizing it and another praising the decent aspects. You go to whichever you feel more comfortable with.

Secondly, there are a fair number of kittens who have stopped watching. By having discussions of the show by other kittens they may be able to check in from time to time and get a sense of what is going on from a source they can trust and relate to. They could decide if they are really missing anything or confirm that they got out at the right time.

Thirdly, it would help keep things going on the board and give us a reason to come back week after week. At least there would be a source for new material and something to talk about that was more current. Yeah, it might end up being mostly angry rants against the shows direction, but thats pretty much what we have now anyway when the show is brought up and it might allow people to get it out of their system as it were.

Fourth, the board is pretty large and one or two threads a week that discuss the show in general wont overly dilute the boards focus or reason to exist. If someone doesnt want to read about the show without Tara they can just avoid those threads. Hell, I don't have the time to read or go through every thread now as it is. I don't see something like this being a big problem. There will, theoretically, be plenty of other W/T topics to browse through.

I think the above are pretty strong reasons to allow a thread on the new episodes when they start up. I do not think it will threaten to turn the KB into a general Buffy board. In short, if I am going to talk about the show, I would rather do it here with the kittens who understand where Im coming from than out on some other board where Im the lone fan still coming from a W/T viewpoint, constantly harangued to "get over it" and "let it go."

Of course thats just my opinion, I could be wrong.

Garner

[xita]

Garner, it is for that very reason, that I haven't discounted it. That those who do still watch, for whatever reason, who are still w/t shippers have a place to express those very thoughts. Nothing is set in stone at this time. And I would rather leave that open for now than discount it completely. There is a lot of time till we have to worry about it and I don't want anyone to think that there has been a decision made on that. But I wouldn't do it because this would be a way to keep the board going. I would to it because a great majority of kitties would want to talk about it. Certainly 99% of the spoiler trolls are gone, I have no doubt that most of the people left truly love w/t and feel horrible about what happened. I don't want anyone to feel they are being attacked.

At this point, things are still fresh. And it is good to hear thoughts on what we want. Ultimately there is time to make that decision.

[urnofosiris]

[quote:06dc8e2697][b:06dc8e2697][i:06dc8e2697]Quote:[/i:06dc8e2697][/b:06dc8e2697]

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the board is pretty large and one or two threads a week that discuss the show in general wont overly dilute the boards focus or reason to exist.

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[/quote:06dc8e2697]

Well I could also say that the lack of those 2 threads would not take away from the reason the board still exists and is thriving. It will not just be Kittens posting in those threads.

[Sheridan]

I don't think its possilbe to even try and make a decision until we know whats coming in S7. Will Amber be in it/ Will she still be Tara? if the answer to either or both is yes it would make a huge difference to any plan for the future, and lets not get into the question oof any spin off based around Dawn and who might be in that...

[urnofosiris]

And we won't [i:a0e600011b] know[/i:a0e600011b] till the episodes actually start to air. So I rather wait till they do so we know what we might be letting ourselves get into.

[Penrose Orleans]

Urgh... you're so... darn... PATIENT... I guess that's why you wear the pants in this board!

Seriously, though, I think you're absolutely right about witholding judgment-- if there's no info about next season, they could well be replacing the cast with dancing chipmuks for all we know!

[Killin Joke]

/chuckle/ Actually, dancing chipmunks don't sound that bad at the moment... Ah, who are we kidding: we need Tara's sexy hip-dance on that show again

[Penrose Orleans]

Maybe we could have it be the "Willow, Tara and Dancing Chipmunks Hour"... I know I'd watch that with regularity!

[tommo]

I think it's safe to say that there are plenty of other places where you can discuss Buffy ad infinitum. Even with a Willow/Tara aspect to them. The problem comes when you open up a [b:caabd30119] specific[/b:caabd30119] board to [b:caabd30119] general[/b:caabd30119] discussion. What is acceptable? What isn't?

My own personal view is that a spoiler thread and a Buffy thread are okay. But in light of what ME have done this season, I honestly don't care a great deal anymore about the show and where it's going. Because it's gone. You know, down the shitter. Heh.

[hilarita]

it almost doesn't matter to me whether or not the Kitten discusses the show and the seventh season...on the other hand, i very much want to be watching and waving multicolored flags when Joss gets his cancellation papers from UPN. the posts about the shows failing ratings and Firefly's imminent doom are bouncing baby kangaroos. i love them. then again, i am kind of a sick puppy.

[Killin Joke]

LOL Excellent idea, Penrose. Willow and Tara would so dig the cute furry chattering creatures And dancing: even better.

I'm on a mission to rewatch W/T-stuff, starting with "Hush" but my tape began with "Something blue". I found myself forwarding the ep to all the Willow-scenes, which has always struck myself to be somewhat sacriliguous, as a tv/filmfreak, in the past.
Can't remember ever doing that with a Xena-ep (not even through the Joxer-moments), unless it would be to make musicvideo's (often found myself watching an ep instead).
Anyway: "Hard times breed hard people." Xe would say.

Where was I going with this ? Oh, right, I saw Willow in her green outfit dancing her grief away with a beer bottle. It irritated me beyond belief how her "friends" reacted: judgmental, and without really taking the time to listen to her. Thank goddess for Tara in the next ep ! (My original point being: Willow dances adorably ) I

As far as the board's concerned: I'm not new to W/T but I haven't been as closely involved as with XWP. I'm ready for reruns now to investigate those two till infinite. No matter what people say: there are things that never get tiring (e.g. how would W/T react to dancing chipmunks )

[Penrose Orleans]

And the best part is, we don't have to stop with chipmunks!!! Miss Kitty would be there, and the half camel, and dolphins, and Brazilian 3-toed sloths ('cause they're the coolest animals in existence ) and ... and... alright, I'm done *goes to take a nap from all the enthusiastic bouncing due to thinking about W/T dancing with fuzzy creatures*

[JJtheCool]

Kudos to RayneFire and Garner for eloquently saying what I can't eloquently have said myself.

Obviously, Joss & ME need to redeem themselves and I want to see them do it; plus, w/ it sounding like Amber will be back with each passing week, then all the more reason to watch S7.

I miss Tara as much as anyone. I could relate to her character well and want her back desperately w/ Willow (I even have this recurring daydream that I get cast on the show as being a demigod who gets to bring Tara back). But no one should have to be flamed or kicked out for admitting they still want to watch the show. I am, and always will be, a sucker for vampire shows. Hell, I even watched [i:327235910b] Kindred: The Embraced[/i:327235910b], all 6 episodes.

I have it that bad.

So here's hoping TKPTB have at least a general BtVS thread. I've enjoyed being here, and by the grace of Ms. Lesbo Fantastico, I want to stay here.

[urnofosiris]

Ms Lesbo Fantastico? Heh, who might that be? Warduke? Did you forget to tell me something?
No one got -or will- get kicked out for saying they still want to watch the show, you are still here aren't you?
What pisses me off is reading people say they love WT and then start to speculate about Willow and the next girl or excuse Joss Whedon in every way and tell us we are overreacting, BtVS is still the best show there is and we should be oh so happy they gave us WT in the first place, so don't whine they shot her in back and lied to your face, it's unbecoming. I am paraphrasing obviously, but that summed up more than one post I have read here.

I am a huge fan of DS9, but I don't discuss it here, seeing as Willow and Tara are not on that show, no more than they are on are on BtVS now. When the day comes when they actually are on the show again, and not just speculation, then that would be soon enough for me to reconsider watching and wanting to talk about it. Indeed, let them redeem themselves [i:dc97172025] first[/i:dc97172025] before we open ourselves up for more kicks in the face.

[Killin Joke]

Yeah, dolphins ! Ooh, can we have dolphins, please ? We could have Willow and Tara swimming with them... I wonder what they'd look like in bathing suits (or bikini ) -> duh: dazzling in a 'you'll get dizzy just by staring at me' way... But not in a Babewatch-trend, but in a Xena-manner: I can wear this outfit and still pull it off (uh, lemme rephrase that), looking tough, and not have a horny vampire trying to rape me... Man, all these possibilities and ME blindly ignores them... I feel a fanfic-rush coming on

[Penrose Orleans]

If you do make a fanfic, I will give you my soul and a stuffed sloth... also much chocolate!!! Can it have a sloth??? *goes into hyper 5-year-old mode* SLOTH!!!!

[Killin Joke]

LOL /looks up the word "sloth" in the dictionary -> what can I say: English isn't my native language, I learn every day/ LOL some more

I still have exams till monday (last one). Yeah, hard to believe at the rate I'm posting here, but I've already got a fanfiction idea about W/T going to a fair, I want to work out. But after that, who knows: I could have 'm go to the zoo, maybe make it a series: The amazing adventures of W/T...

Your soul, a stuffed sloth and chocolate huh... Now that's what I call enthusiastic ! Don't worry, when it comes to W/T I'm not that hard to persuade (Damn, I have to work on my whole evil bitch monster of death image: maybe I should ask Rally to give me some pointers ) Still got some chocolate sauce in the fridge for inspiration. Souls are intriguing entities in Xena/Buffyverses, though... And who can resist a sloth: I'll probably get reincarnated as one: being in my slacker-mode...