San Diego Comic Con

[Rally]

Need to read up on the thread and I will post as soon as I can.

------------




Well officially, of course, I have to say that I have no idea what you're talking about.

[Katharyn]

Thankyou Xita for the pics but more for what you did with JW when it was obviously so difficult for you.



I have already told you what I think... but I will say it again here as I think it is worth saying as often as possible.



You did a great thing there. You told Joss what he really did and you were polite and restrained doing that - no doubt obviously showing the emotion. The Queen Kitten herself showed that she (and we) are not "Crazy Dykes" out to kill him. He may not have known exactly who you were but if he was having dinner with Amber... he might well find out.



He cannot doubt the depth of genuine feeling about this issue... and not just Tara as a character.



That is a wonderful, wonderful thing.



*HUGS*



Katharyn

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[strongwoman66]

Rally and xita: It's so wonderful to read your report. I'm glad she had fun with the t-shirt. I hope I can get one too. It's so brave and amazing for you to tell Joss how you and our community feel about the end of season 6. Joss sounded a bit rude not to look at the Advocate article..doesn't he understand how fans feel about their favorite characters? It's the same way if Buffy or Faith ends like Tara. All of us fans of Buffy see their favorite characters as role models; they cry, laugh and smile with the characters, it's part of their lives. However, I indeed wonder Amber's dinner with Joss. If Amber really left Buffy, what would they chat during this dinner? Let hope it'll be a nice surprise for us fans in season 7. *crossed fingers* I sincerely wish Joss'll respect Amber even if Amber plays another character. The bad things about Amber's new role only cheapens the legend of Tara.



Big Hugs to Rally & xita,



Strongwoman66

Edited by: strongwoman66 at: 8/4/02 11:06:22 pm

[karenk]

Thanks xita for the great report. And the pics.



I laughed when I saw image 4... good god, that's a lot of pens

They were well-prepared, huh?

[pikachu1060]

Thank you so much Xita, for the report and for the rest. I'm glad you got the chance to tell JW what you think, and what we all think. If someone could speak on behalf of all the kittens, it had to be you.

The bond that links your true family is not one of blood,
but of respect and joy in each other's life.
Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof. (richard bach - illusions)

[The Rose24]

Thanks Xita,



You have always made this a home for me and the other kittens. Thanks for all of your hard work.

Tara: My heart doesn't stutter.

Tara: Willow, I got so lost.
Willow: I found you. I will always find you.

Willow: Hi, um Tara. I was wondering maybe you want to go out some time for coffee? food? Kisses and gay love?

[urnofosiris]

Thanks Xita, especially about talking to Joss Whedon. I wish you could have done so before this storyline. Who knows, maybe next time he will not be so flippant or callous about this, or claim to know what you or I need or that this hurt him more, maybe next time he will think twice before lying about things like this and then pretending to be clueless. Very glad you told him we don't think he is a homophobe, because that seems to be a favourite reply, that they did not kill Tara because she is a lesbian, well we knew that, now he knows that, no need to say that anymore, maybe now he can try and listen to what we have been trying to say all along.

Oh, to be a fly on the wall at that dinner.



Glad Amber liked the shirt and the idea of the fundraiser, hum, take over the world eh? Hee, now that would scare some people witless.

--------------------

Tara: "uh Willow?"

Willow: "No dancing naked, huh?...It just won't be the same."

Tara: "That's all right, we can save it for later" ----From Wilderness, the newest WT comic written by Amber Benson and Christopher Golden

Edited by: DrG at: 8/5/02 12:10:12 am

[Rally]

Must post... I am going to leave the bulk of this for tomorrow. I just started working my way through the thread and the Nancy Holder stuff.

So I will have more on that. I also on Sunday, spoke again with Andy Mangels,

as well as speaking with a few other interesting people that have some news. I have a to of pics to post as well.



I am still on vacation tomorrow, so you can expect me to be posting a lot. I have many many evil things to post about. If you have any questions in advance, fire away. I still havent caught up with this thread but I will in the morning.

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Well officially, of course, I have to say that I have no idea what you're talking about.

[Scout]

Thanks Xita and Rally for all the current and upcoming info about your trip.



And Xita, thank you so much for doing what you did. Throughout all of this, there has been this great desire just to be heard, and somehow it's a great relief to know that the heart of our message was delivered directly to him - without media hype or spin - by the one person who could express it best.



Love you, Xita.

[lilac8wine]

OMG Amber looks sooooo beautiful!

You guys, ohhh...*hugs* to all. Thanks everybody for posting pictures, she looks amazing, and im still jealous.

Yay!

[Shinnen]

Xita! You are the best! Thanks for sharing the photos and cool report of meeting Amber and Joss!

CheerZ

Shinnen

**************


When I Am Standing On My Head, The Sky Is So Deep And The Sea Is So High.
Inner Beauty Is The Easiest To See In The World When You Are Looking

[WebWarlock]

Xita you are great. The best really.



Thank you so much for saying what we all have wanted to say to Joss "Judas" Whedon. I know you must have been emotional because I would have been.



If that is all you had done, it would have been enough, but you gave Amber a shirt! (How many shirts does this girl have from all of us anyway?) AND you told her about the Trevor project.



I am so glad to got go, and please allow me to quote Amber herself.



"I have the best fans, you guys are the best." I think we know who she is talking about here! And it's not me!



Now for a bit of gallow humor, I have to say this cracks me up.

kittenboard.com/sd2002/gottara.html



Thank you Xita. Proving once again why you are the heart and soul of this community.



Warlock

-----

Web Warlock

The Other Side, home of Liber Mysterium: The Netbook of Witches and Warlocks

What the hell is your problem? - Ozzy Osbourne to me, October, 1997.

[Dave V]

Thanks to all those who posted reports and pictures. Amber is such a class act. And now she knows about the Kitten charity drive. How cool is that?



Xita, a special "Brava" to you, the Kitten's best ambassador, for your heartfelt comments to Joss.



BTW, it's a kind of vindication that Amber herself liked the t-shirt and thought it was funny.

Edited by: Dave V at: 8/5/02 4:26:18 am

[Kendahl897]

I'm glad now that Joss knows now that while we are very upset about Tara, we are ANGRY about the lies..Xita, you were great ..I wanted him to know how betrayed we feel.How unnecessary all of the lies were, and now I know he knows..I know he felt pride when W/T first started and we were all lavishing him with praise..I hope he feels as much shame now..and I jope he knows that we have no intention of giving up.....

[Rosenberg]

Xita, I’m very proud that you were able to represent the kittens and personally convey our feelings to Whedon. You made it clear that it’s not a case of homophobia, but the lies and betrayal that have wounded us. I couldn’t think of anyone else I would rather have spoken for us. I would like to thank you and all the kittens that were there to support us.



It’s also good to know that Amber is now aware of the Trevor project and that the shirt didn’t horribly offend her. Wouldn’t it be interesting to know what the topic of conversation was at their dinner?

[LovePuddle]

OhMyGod! My head is still spinning!

What a weekend! I never in my life had so much fun.

Friday was nothing to speak of since I flew in from Texas and didn't get in until midnight.

Saturday morning I was up and dressed by 5 am!

I arrived at Comic Con about 7 am and proceded to wait in an already long line to get in. We ended up actually getting in around 10 am. Then there was even more waiting because they wouldn't even let you get in line to see Amber until you got a ticket and they wouldn't be giving out tickets until 3:00.

So, I went on my next mission which was to find anyone with a Kitten shirt on. Around 1:00 I spot someone with a Got Tara t-shirt on and I talk off running! I catch up, spin her around and shove my hand at her and introduce myself. And to my surprise, it's none other than Xita! I nearly hit the roof! I'm like "Oh my God, I know who you are! You're one of the moderator's!" She just smiled and said "yeah". I think she was a bit frightened. Anyway we chatted for a bit but then said we would hook up later cuz she needed to get something to eat. I thought to myself. "Yeah, right. I will never see this woman again". But I was wrong.

We had already started an pre-line line for tickets. I was like 4th in line and when I saw Xita again, I motioned for her to come up and stand in line with us. Well, we waited and waited and waited. Talked and talked and talked. As time got closer< i started to get really really nervous. My hands were all sweaty and I couldn't get my fingers to work. I kept trying to bookmark the places I wanted Amber to sign but I was all thumbs. My mouth was so dry that my gum kept sticking to the insides of my mouth. Xita kept saying "Calm down, just think about what you want to say and say it". Um.....yeah....o.k. was all I could say.

So we are standing there. It's already after 4pm. Amber is late and I am freaking out. Then out of nowhere I see this tiny figure walk by in this cute little striped Gilligan hat and I just freeze. She gets up to the table and takes her hat off andiles and I lose my breath. I just keep saying over and over "Oh my God, she's beautiful". This is my first time to see her in person and I can't say enough how pictures just do not do her justice. She is absolutely breathtaking! Then it all in slo-mo for me cuz she starts pulling her hair back to tie it up and I am just staring at her with my mouth hanging open. Then I get the biggest surprise cuz she looks up and immediately notices Xita and smiles and waves. I am standing right behind Xita so I am like 5 feet from this amazing creature when she looks up and flashes those blue eyes. I am dumbstruck. At this point I am realizing what is about to happen and I keep praying in my head "Please don't throw up. Please don't throw up". Then the line starts moving. I am trying to control my breathing, remember what I want to say, get my sticky gum in check, and concentrate on walking cuz now my legs are starting to shake. Xita and Rally go up first, say their piece, get a hug and then move forward. IT"S MY TURN! OH DEAR GOD!

She looks up at me, smiles and says "HI. How are you?" I say "I'm really nervous"."You are just so beautiful". She kind of blushes, turns her head down and waves a hand at me as if to say "oh stop" or something like that. I then tell her that I brought her something from Texas and I pull out this funny looking horse kind of sitting in this funny position and she starts laughing and says "Oh, that's so cute!" and shows it to her sister. She then reaches out and gives me a hug. I thought I was literally going to fall over. So after the hug I kind of squat down in front of her at eye level cuz by now my legs are like Jell-o. Then I actually tell her "I am having to squat down now because I am having trouble standing right now." I then put my hand out and show her how badly I am shaking and she grabs my and and just holds it and squeezes it and says"Oh, you poor thing" and she's got this furrowed brow thing going on. I am just melting. I give her my comic books & she starts to sign them. I am still so dumb founded I ask her "How did you know how to spell my name" She goes "It's on your name tag". I'm thinking "Duh....I'm so stupid" She then says "I wish I could take credit for being clairvoiant" I said that I thought she remembered my name from Toronto because I had a friend get your signature and you had mispronounced my name. And she said " I know, I called you Me-lonnie, I'm such a doofus". I'm like "Noooooo".

I then ask her if I can get a picture with her and she says "sure". She then stands up and leans over the edge of the table and puts her arm around me. My friend Stella snaps the picture and I gather all my things and start to walk off. I then put my hand over my heart and say "Thank you". I guess I still looked shaken up cuz she said "Oh, no, thank you" and then pauses and says again "poor thing". (again with the furrowed brow)

Then I spend the next hour taking random shots of her. I used all the film in my camera and then took hold of my friends camera and used up hers too.

It was the single most incredible experience of my life!



Later we hooked back up with Xita, Rally, Sam, Storm, RelativeGirl, Kay and some others and went to Dick's Last Resort. But that's another story. I will post that one later cuz it is sooooooo worth telling!



Melonie

[urnofosiris]

Melonie, you are so cute, did you type that all up in one breath?

You are really funny, I wish I could have been dumbstruck like that, you said all the right things damn you, and you really have the perfect posting name.

Quote:

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Posted by Autumn

So, let me get this straight (as hard as that is for me) Amber thought the shirt was funny and liked it? Just like most of us here? She did not find it offensive? hmm. Who knew?

---

Indeed who knew? It's not as if we have gotten any kind of clues that Amber Benson has a wicked sense of humour. Oh well, I guess we just lucked out. Maybe next time we can give her a cake in the shape of a tombstone that says "Rest in Peace Tara Maclay" and ask to take her picture while she is holding a big knife. That would not be brutal or horribly offensive I'm sure. Wouldn't that be a great idea?





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Amber Benson: Then they gave me a cake at the end. I got a big tombstone that said, 'Rest in Peace, Tara Maclay.' Sarah was taking pictures. I'm holding a big knife, all bloody, with a bullet hole in my side and a piece of cake."

Edited by: DrG at: 8/5/02 6:57:32 am

[Dumbsaint]

Xita, for the first time since all of this began, I feel like I'm reaching some kind of closure. The main thing I needed to know was that he was hearing us, and now he has. From this point on, there's simply no way he can hide behind any more bullshit media filters, no more dancing around the "Hey, I'm not homophobic!" smokescreen. Next step, I say we send him a copy of the Celluloid Closet.



More than I can express, thanks Xi.

"It's not real. I mean, there are no vampires, there are no witches. Well, there are Wiccans, but they're not making out with Alyson, so..." -Amber Benson

[Shinnen]

Culzean, I would like to ask for permission to use one of your wonderful Friday Amber photos in a new wallpaper. Would it be okay if I do so?

CheerZ

Shinnen

**************


When I Am Standing On My Head, The Sky Is So Deep And The Sea Is So High.
Inner Beauty Is The Easiest To See In The World When You Are Looking

[friskylez]

LovePuddle, I just have to say you are so cute the way you talked about meeting Amber Id like to think id be a model of composure, but i have a feeling that i would end of all nervous, just like you were Amber is a doll and what an extraordinarily beautiful woman inside and out

From Everythings Relative, .."the personal is political "

Edited by: friskylez  at: 8/5/02 7:08:28 am

[helpful information perha]

many thanks for taking the time and having the courage to speak your mind with Whedon Xita. My hats off to you.



I have to be honest here, I'm not as forgiving as you where whedons motives and actions are concerned re:W/T.



while he may or may not have played out the lesbian cliche via a conscious effort, the result on screen reaked of homophobia.



It was thoughtless and cruel and far and away NOT the only way to push willow into heinous vigilanty acts......and I very much resent the fact that he is trying to justify his crude story that way



We've already seen willow jump into the black arts and rush to take justice into her own hands against a god no less.



why wouldn't she do the same if Tara was captured, and threatened with torture and/or rape.



add to that a subsequent attempt on buffy's (or dawns or xander's) life and it would have been quite believeable for willow to again delve into the black arts and go after warren/the geek trio.



then when she became aware that warren had done to catrina (raped then murdered) what he almost had done to tara that would have been enough to push willow into blind rage and result in her killing warren.



All without tara dead and all allowing tara to be the one to bring willow back through forgiveness and love



That Mr Whedon, a supposed genius writer extrodinar with his brain trust of writers couldn't come up with something better than what was on screen, something that wasn't so obviously the lesbian cliche, says to me that he was he// bent on playing out his own snuff fantasy and cared not for story or fans or the integrity of his characters



I find latent homophobia, racism, sexism etc much more distastful than their blatant counterparts



Personally, I think hollywierd needs to take a long and critical look at itself.



They do affect the public conscience and thus peoples lives.



When such power falls to those who act like juvenile frat boys (young white males make up the bulk of hollywoods working writers) who think turning around and pimping out their fem hero to evil iteself, dissing women, playing out their violent sexual fantasies, perpetuating minority sterotypes of all kinds and making white male losers the hero's is good tv for the family broadcast hour, then I think everyone needs to speak out and say enough is enough.



Whedon etal think they are pushing the boundries of their art by pushing the boundries of sex and violence in the family hour. These are the targets they have set for themselves.



One up manship in getting sex and violence past their standards and practices boards is what they take pride in Rather than making true attempts to deal with the substantial issues that plague our world.



when getting buffy humping spike on air in the family broadcast hour means more to the producers than breaking down the engrained resistance of society towards seeing women as strong hero's, when they can sell out their young fem audience seeking role models for the 14 year old male numbers they're now after (and look what they think plays to the boys - sex, violence, fem degradation),



then they can just as easily dispose of a minority group they were flirting with to reaffirm the lesbian cliche.



like I said, my hats off to you Xita, I don't think I could have been as nice

[Hemiola]

Could someone who was at the Joss Q&A give us a transcript, or perhaps a link to a transcript. Thanks very much.

[Warduke]

Thanks for the report and pics xita, and I can't say how glad I am that you told Joss that, it really means a lot.

_________________________


Stand and tremble at the sight of Durin’s Bane

[Culzean]

"Culzean, I would like to ask for permission to use one of your wonderful Friday Amber photos in a new wallpaper. Would it be okay if I do so?"



Sure, go right ahead! Glad you liked them. I sure enjoyed taking them.





deb

[Tulipp]

Thanks for all the news and reports from the Con. Xita and Rally, I am so very glad that you were able to say what you said to Joss. I have to say I never expected to come to this particular thread and get emotional, but your report of your meeting with Joss really affected me. I am at work and am actually trying not to cry right now, but it is hard. I'm wondering if it will always hurt this much to think about Tara and Joss and all of this.



And if I'm feeling that way here and now, I can't imagine how difficult it was for you to do that. You have a lot of courage.

Edited by: Tulipp at: 8/5/02 8:20:50 am

[roamin]

Xita you are a class act.



I come from a family of teachers - so I can imagine you gave him 'the look' before you started speaking and that he didn't have much of a choice but to listen and absorb what you said.

Edited by: roamin at: 8/5/02 9:47:42 am

[Grimaldi]

thanks to everyone for the reports and pics, and thanks to xita for speaking to Joss.

Dude, we're surrounded by perverts!

Fucking Windows 98, get Bill Gates in here!

We'll roll on with our heads held high - The Living End

[Rally]

First I am going to address stuff as I read through the thread, than I will see about a real report later in the day:

Quote:

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emma peel



Hey, SDCC Kittens, if one Kitten (Rally?) will be trying to give Joss his presents, I hope there will be a second one alongside to take photos of this "historic" event. Audio and video would be nice, too.

---

I have audio of the "talk" with Joss and pictures of him signing the Advocate article.

Quote:

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Dr G



I am curious about Nancy Holder, she has written some nice WT lines hasn't she, did she really say those things or did she just look at you like you were a mad raging lesbian?

---

She thought I was a mad raging lesbian and was whispering to the lady sitting next to her. The phrase, "they just won't get over it" was heard more than once. She of course was sitting there in her Spike tshirt.

Quote:

---

AutumnT



God I know. This is torture. And you know, they're probably out drinking while we wait.

---

Well duhhh.

Quote:

---

Dr Lloyd



He said "he talked about the death of tara" and then the poster went off about how Faith is returning..blah blah blah...

---

I was unable to stay for the entire Q&A but apparently all he did was give his little, Amber will be back if her schedule allows babble.

Quote:

---

AutumnT



She did not find it offensive? hmm. Who knew?

---

Who knew that she would have a sense of humor eh. Everyone loved the shirts, pretty much except maybe Joss.

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Well officially, of course, I have to say that I have no idea what you're talking about.

Edited by: Rally at: 8/5/02 10:20:28 am

[BoredNow99]

Thanks so much, guys, for everything you did this weekend to get the message across.



It means so much to all of us who couldn't be there to have you speaking on our behalf.



Xita, I have so much admiration for you. There's no way I could have stayed calm enough to do that. You're a star, and I'm so grateful for what you've done.



Rally, thanks for the info. So Nancy Holder's a Spike fan who thinks we should get over it, huh? That's certainly worth bearing in mind.



Can't wait to hear more. Thanks again for all your efforts

Willow...It's Glenda in a bubble power, not Margaret Hamilton on a bicycle power

[sam7777]

Thanks to Rally, Xita and all the kittens who were "showing the colors" at the San Diego con. Thanx especially to Xita for talking to Joss. Not that it will make any difference but hopefully it will make him think twice more about what he says now that he can ut a face to the kittens.



I must admit that I was very dissappointed with what Nancy Holder had to see. I can't believe that she would be so rude in front of fans of her work like that. Certainly makes me not want to buy her stuff anymore. The Buffy books are published by Simon&Shuster and their page has a feedback form:

www.simonsays.com/feedback_form.cfm



I wonder if we should let them know how we felt about her appearance at the San Diego con.



Editted to add: Loved the pix. Amber is such a class act. Sounds like it was a great con. Nancy Holder is the coauthor of the Buffy Watcher's giude and other Buffy books published by Pocket Books for Simon&Shuster.

I see dead lesbian cliches.

Edited by: sam7777  at: 8/5/02 11:51:10 am