both moments see Willow expressing sexual willingness for reasons *other* than Oz.
Absolutely true.
As for "Phases" - Willow says she's ready, but she also insists on using the term "smoochies", which is...not entirely indicative of emotional maturity?
Again true, though the poor girl hasn't had much chance to hone her relationship skills, since we're to assume she's never so much as been kissed before she kisses Oz at the end of "Phases." It's a bit of a double-edged sword. Oz makes the right choices in "Innocence" and "Amends" - right for himself, certainly, and probably right for her - but those choices do keep her inexperienced, as she might not have been had she taken up with, say, Xander or another less mature kid.
Willow appearing in his room later in that episode, all dressed up like Veruca, is very much - to me anyway - an echo of her Barry-White-playing in "Amends"; her discomfort with her own sexuality leads to scene setting and dress up. *pets her*
I guess I don't see it as discomfort with her sexuality so much as insecurity about her own attractiveness and about the stability of her relationship with Oz (especially in WAH, where it's just so damn painful to watch her, and, for that matter, poor Oz!).
As it is, writing Giles/Oz that also takes into the relationship with Willow lets me explore Willow's under-developed sexuality and what I'm really convinced is her woman-focused bisexuality.
Willow does seem to come into her own sexually with Tara. I've noticed though that she only identifies herself as gay (in "Triangle") after Tara's comment: "You thought Dracula was sexy?", which seems at least as much a question about Willow's orientation as about her attraction to a vampire. Identifying herself as gay feels to me to be all about Tara - about proving she's not going back to "boys town" - and it's a shame that her follow-up relationship is with Kennedy, which I found to be so completely about ME's obligation to pair her with another woman, lest anyone get the idea she'd "learned her lesson and gone straight." It would've been interesting to see a less forced relationship between Willow and another woman, or to see what her post-Tara relationship with a man would've been like...
(as I descend further and further into wankiness...)
hee! no hitting!
Absolutely true.
As for "Phases" - Willow says she's ready, but she also insists on using the term "smoochies", which is...not entirely indicative of emotional maturity?
Again true, though the poor girl hasn't had much chance to hone her relationship skills, since we're to assume she's never so much as been kissed before she kisses Oz at the end of "Phases." It's a bit of a double-edged sword. Oz makes the right choices in "Innocence" and "Amends" - right for himself, certainly, and probably right for her - but those choices do keep her inexperienced, as she might not have been had she taken up with, say, Xander or another less mature kid.
Willow appearing in his room later in that episode, all dressed up like Veruca, is very much - to me anyway - an echo of her Barry-White-playing in "Amends"; her discomfort with her own sexuality leads to scene setting and dress up. *pets her*
I guess I don't see it as discomfort with her sexuality so much as insecurity about her own attractiveness and about the stability of her relationship with Oz (especially in WAH, where it's just so damn painful to watch her, and, for that matter, poor Oz!).
As it is, writing Giles/Oz that also takes into the relationship with Willow lets me explore Willow's under-developed sexuality and what I'm really convinced is her woman-focused bisexuality.
Willow does seem to come into her own sexually with Tara. I've noticed though that she only identifies herself as gay (in "Triangle") after Tara's comment: "You thought Dracula was sexy?", which seems at least as much a question about Willow's orientation as about her attraction to a vampire. Identifying herself as gay feels to me to be all about Tara - about proving she's not going back to "boys town" - and it's a shame that her follow-up relationship is with Kennedy, which I found to be so completely about ME's obligation to pair her with another woman, lest anyone get the idea she'd "learned her lesson and gone straight." It would've been interesting to see a less forced relationship between Willow and another woman, or to see what her post-Tara relationship with a man would've been like...
(as I descend further and further into wankiness...)