How We Came To Be Kittens

[BBOvenGuy]

Hiya, everybody...

Here's a little question for you to answer. It's part of the Kitten Board Book project, so I hope you'll all join in.

How did you come to the Kitten Board? What's your story? Did W/T bring you to the net in the first place, or are you a net-veteran who was looking for some W/T goodness? Inquiring minds want to know.

Have fun...

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Remember the Kitten Board Mantra: "Joss is nuts about Tara, Willow/Tara and Amber!"

"Nothing excites me more than the possiblity that I might fail." - Joss Whedon

[MidgetFishy]

I actually wasn't into either buffy or W/T, but a friend of mine was. After she forced me to watch a few episodes, I was hooked on buffy...

I came here sometime after Tough Love aired, desparate for spoilers... and I stayed. Yay.

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Vectors? I don't have any vectors! I'm just a kid!

[andygirl]

Aye, those torrid days of yore come leaping to mind as if they were last week. She was a year older, with long nuthatch hair and eyes the color of slate, and it all started that cold winter night when she offered me her

Um, sorry. Wrong story.

I heard about it from the willtara mailing list, hung out, and liked it well enough to lurk. That was in the fall of 2000. I've been on the internet for quite some time. What can I say, I'm a bored college student.

[minion]

I'd always been into Buffy and used to frequent quite a few sites, mainly for spoilers and info on Aly that type of thing, but when Amber joined the cast and Willow and Tara got together I instantly fell in love with them and started looking for sites dedicated just to them, although there weren't many at the beginning. I stumbled on the Kitten quite by accident, I was sorting out my mailing lists one night and spotted the Willtara and there was a link to the kitten in one of the messages (Probably Xita's ) I can't tell you how happy I am that I found you guys and I'm glad that after many months of lurking, I finally registered!

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I am in thunderous agreement, oh glittering, glistening Glorificus! : Jinx in Tough Love

[SweetMamaJane]

I know that the Drop the Chalupa board is an off-shoot of this board, but I found the DTC board first when I started searching the internet for anything about the Kerry-Kim storyline. That led me here. I now watch Buffy, ER, Witchblade, Xena (in reruns), Dark Angel...basically any show that has any lesbian content or where women kick ass or both.

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"We're in love. We're lovers. We're lesbian/gay type lovers." Willow

[Kiwiccan]

I was a veteran netarian. I was very wrapped up in Xena and Voyager. I even had my own voyager list, which I passed on to someone over a year ago.

I have always been a Buffy fan, but I never belonged to any lists, boards or chatrooms. Then "Hush" aired, which opened my eyes to Tara (and Amber), the chemistry between W/T and the realization that oh oh something is brewing between these two.

The day after I saw Hush I was on the internet searching for every BTVS site I could find wanting to know more about this Tara character and her potential relationship with Willow. Was I imaginging things? Did people see what I saw? OH YES!!! That is when someone told me about the WillTara list (back then I was using A_Museme as my handle).

From that list a few people began to chat in the list chatroom. That chatroom was terrible, I could only manage to stay in it for a few minutes at a time. So one day Zelda, Xita and someone else decided to create a chatroom where there would be less problems chatting. I joined the moment the doors opened.

From that chatroom (we bounced around to a few)the kitten board was created and one night we had a session of "name the board" and if I'm not mistaken Shaych3 actually came up with the idea of using the name of the book. That name was then tweaked to fit our girls. We had a blast with naming this board. I wish I had a copy of some of the weird, funny, naughty and off-the-wall names we came up with.

So I have been here since day one and am very proud of how this board has thrived and grown thanks to Xita and the current mods.

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Paula
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Amber FanGirl #1a; May the Amber Force be with you.
Keeper of my own insanity
"I love being a girl, having a girl.." ~as sung by Amber Benson in the UK

[This message has been edited by Kiwiccan (edited July 16, 2001).]

[DISASTERAREA]

I first found a link at the Extra Flamey site after becoming adicted to fanfic (in particular W/T fic...duh). Then after lurking for a few months I met Amber Benson at a comic signing (Yes I have told this story before), and then again in Cardiff. I relised that I really needed to talk to other peoplr that were buffyholics (in particular W/T-holics), and after the reassurances I got that that I wasnt a complete idiot (just partially) I relised that I felt completely comfortable and relaxed about being myself, in such a mutually supportive and positive community.

Anyhoo thats my story, and I will now shut off gushing mode....*I love u guys*....now really mode shut down....*SIGH*

[This message has been edited by DISASTERAREA (edited July 16, 2001).]

[tommo]

Like Paula, I went down the internet search route until I found willtara. I hardly ever used to post on there (and still don't much) but I followed threads and messages regularly. I loved the whole community that was built up around Willow and Tara. And I emailed someone from the list one day; I can't even remember why. When she emailed me back, so started a friendship which drew me into a whole new group of friends. That person was xita (all bow down before her greatness...oh wait, not her, the *other* one, heh heh).

When the chatroom started, I eventually got into it and began my nocturnal (no pun intended) jaunts to the willtara club.

I remember that 'name the board' time Paula, god, how funny was that?

So after the board was created, I joined along with the other 'Original Kitties' and to be honest, it's gone from strength to strength in the last ten months.

I wonder though, just how well known the board would be if we'd gone with xita's suggestion of 'The Inward Eye'? Would we all be called 'Eyes'? Hee hee...

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"She looked across at Willow, whose face was filled with light. She had never felt so calm and happy, and strong..." ~ Unseen: Door To Alternity

[Buttercup]

I never was much into anything. I sat and stared at a wall for hours and hours, occasionally taking breaks to save the planet or color a picture. Then I found Buffy. Actually I found Angel! That was the first thing I ever watched then one day I caught the end of Who Are You and thought it was pretty kewl. I wasn't that big into Buffy really until NMR, then blah blah blah got all obsessed. I wanted to talk to people but the people on theWB boards were very...um, nice word, immature! So then there was a day of net surfing and I came across buffysearch.com and found all these nifty places. K, so then there were a total of three, and one of those was Willtara. Then my story is pretty much like everyone elses. From there I found the Kitten Board. It was so long ago. Right when they first moved to Novogate...was it that?? Anywayz it was the first place after the place that was the original. There was like no one!! I lurked all the time and barely ever posted, but I read everything! Since then I've changed my name and post a bit more...but I'm also seeing a shrink. Hum... So lalala.

[Kabuki]

I was a lurker at the Watcher's Diary board. Someone, and I can't remember who, mentioned the Kitten board in one of those attack/defense Tara threads, and since I've always loved W/T I had to come and check it out. I don't even go to the WD anymore, this board is much nicer.

[TwiLightJoy]

Once upon a time Buffy went on the air. I watched it every week and liked it a whole lot. Then, I went away to college, and began watching Xena because it better fit my available hours. Soon, I got myself a computer (for design!!) and began to be interested in online stuff. I became a regular in a Xena chatroom, and there people would frequently talk about Buffy. This together with my winter break got me back into watching Buffy on a regular basis. However, it was quite a while before I began to search out a Buffy-centered and Willow/Tara specific community. First I found the WB Buffy message boards and I didn't really fit there. It wasn't personal to me, so I left. I searched on.

I found Extra Flamey, and was content to read fic for a couple months before I timidly offered my first contribution to the site (my very first Winamp skin!), and then began exploring the links. And I came here. It was like a whole world away from the WB boards, and I was immediately welcomed. I chatted with some people on IRC when chat was at #TheKitten, and everyone was really cool to me there. Most boards are not as friendly and positive as the Kitten, and I really love it here. You guys are the best!!

Wow... that was a long, long story.

~Joy

[Anakin1218]

I'd only posted on one other mb before this one and had never really done chatts before; went looking for a friendly W/T place to hang on the net.

Low and behold my searchings led me this way and in the few short weeks I've been here; I've come to count the kitten board members as my friends. Meaning as much to me as anyone I know in rl.

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"My heart doesn't stutter" -Tara

[Dazey]

Cool question, Bob!

It's funny, I was just thinking about this after something xita said at the PBP...which I won't go into...but anyway.

I only got a computer and got online about two years ago, and the very first thing I did online was search for Buffy sites, particularly Willow/Alyson sites. I became a lurker at Little Willow's We Possess Willow Power board...then after "Hush" aired I was so excited about Tara and what had happened with her and Willow that I had to post. I found that I really enjoyed talking to people in this way, and I started looking for other boards...eventually I came across the Watcher's Diary at Buffyguide, and that became my online home for more than a year. (I even met xita there, though she probably doesn't remember. She posted there once or twice, and I recognized her from willtara, where I lurked, and sent her a private message to say hey.)

Anyway, I was known as AlyKat at the Diary, and I developed a reputation as the most zealous defender of Tara and the W/T relationship on the board--matched only by my dear friend Mary-Jane, who is known as morgan there and as tyche here. But eventually I grew tired of always having to be defensive about W/T, and of people saying hurtful things without regard for others' feelings, and of the general atmosphere of cynicism and negativity toward the show and its characters that began to prevail.

Fortunately Mary-Jane had discovered the Kitten, and she suggested I might find a place of refuge here. I took her advice and started lurking...wonder of wonders, here was a place where not only did I not have to defend W/T, but where people actually respected one another and were thoughtful and considerate, and where the show and everyone involved with it were celebrated! After a few weeks of lurkage, I took the plunge and started posting. Now it's the only board I come to.

It was hard to leave the Watcher's Diary, because I was very well-known and popular there, and trust me, that was a brand-new experience in my life. But I'm glad I did, and I'm even more glad to have the Kitten...I would rather be "just another poster" on a board like this, that is positive and uplifting, than be a star on a board where cynicism and meanness reign.

Plus, Amber knows us and loves us. Kitties are the coolest ever.

[Kalita]

For me, it's all about the fics.

I read almost any f/f fiction I can get my hands on. I'd read some b/f and b/w in my travels, but never actually watched the show.

Then this girl Tara is suddenly in some fics, and my curiousity is piqued. I find out this is a CANON relationship and I'm even more intrigued. Finally, late in 2000, I happen to be home when the show's on and I check it out.

I knew it had cool action and fun humour bits, but the whole package together just floored me. Not to mention the W/T relationship! Never had I seen a more cute, more loving, more perfect couple. I had to know more about these gals and the fans who loved them.

Somehow (I honestly don't remember how), I found my way here to the Kitty. I fell in love with the place, and I've been here daily (or more!) since.

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Kalita
Maquis operative, fanfic sponge, and Fray groupie

"I'm just taking things without paying for them! In what twisted dictionary is that 'stealing'?"

-Willow, "Triangle"

[Nyx]

Been a Buffy fan pretty much since day one, but never bothered much with the net, till I joined a Buffy posting board (The Watcher's Diary).

That was all very well until Amber joined the cast and I saw the chemistry she had with Aly so of course I had to find out everything I could about the two of them. And then as the story progressed I realised I wanted to be somewhere where I wasn't constantly just reading posts full of fighting and arguing and character bashing, so I went searching....
I followed a few links and here I was! I was so stoked to see there was an entire board devoted to Willow and Tara (Plus I found some posters from the WD were here which was cool)

Then after lurking for a few months I finally registered and am really glad I did because this is such a positive community that I'm glad to have joined.

(edited to add a few things )

[This message has been edited by Nyx (edited July 17, 2001).]

[GridMonkey]

In my case, I was checking out the the message board at Gina Dartt's Captain's Quarters, a J/7 site. She had had an earlier board that had gotten weird evidently and she shut it down. When people wrote her about redoing it she said she was willing to try it again, but opened it up to include any strong women characters on tv. I checked it out and there was a link to this board. I kept coming back and decided I liked message boards (well really only this once because none of the others took) because you all are so funny and point out the coolest stuff that blows right past me. Eventually I registered and now look at me, I even post every once in a while and I went and met other kitties. This is the only board I go to and I don't chat because I can never think of stuff to say and I'm painfully shy. Even online. The Kitten Board is just one of the most awesome places to hang out online.
Cool.

[This message has been edited by GridMonkey (edited July 17, 2001).]

[Tara]

I believe I found this board a while back through the W/T mailing list. I lurked for a while when the board was back at it's other host (can't remember the name, but you know the one I'm talking about). Then I registered for this one The date I registered.... well I'll see when I post this

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CalebRoss.com
Nathan West Online

[Sapphire]

I was lurking around other btvs message boards ... never joined any of them cause they always seemed so hostile.. it was always about what they didn't like about the show.. then one day I was browsing through some fan sites and found a link to here .. lurked here for a while and noticed that this wasn't like any other btvs board out there. Not only are the people are nice, friendly and they actually allow you to post an opinion without jumping down your throat, it was a board completely dedicated to W/T. A place where I didn't have to fight for the relationship.. I could just enjoy it in the company of other like-minded individuals. So I registered.. post on occasion.. lurk most of the time .

[This message has been edited by Sapphire (edited July 17, 2001).]

[Puff]

I found the board at the beginning of the year through fanfic sites and mailing lists. I have always been a fan of Buffy, but it's the Willow/Tara relationship that really drew me in. I don't know what it is about them, it's just powerful to watch and it is just not there in any other programme on TV.

I tried posting at the Bronze but I was shot down for defending them...so I tried to find a place where I could just learn all about them and find people that actually supported the relationship. It took me about a month of lurking before I was brave enough to post. During that time I read as many back threads as I could and tried to get as much information about Willow/Tara/Aly/Amber as possible.

After I posted my introduction I was welcomed by Garfield who assured me that I would soon post like crazy. And now here I am a kitty and proud of it

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All of the good...all of the time.

[Rat]

*sniff* Memories.... Well, I'd been on the internet since I was in year 6, so that's... 5 years running now. I was a die-hard Sailormoon fan, and then I got into The Phantom of the Opera, followed by Buffy. And I adored Willow.

The rest I blame on Pixie-Muso because she was the one who showe me The Kitty board during one of our free periods at school. Pix and I are really the only Buffy, W/T *fanatics* in our group of friends. I daresay if any of our friends ever came here they'd think The Kitty was a bad influence on us!

It's a small world. Turns out Pixie Muso, myself and Wolfix all go to school within a block of eachother.

[concrete]

How did I come to the Kitten Board?

MAGIC!
MAGIC!

[shazza]

I had been posting at the Bronze for some time, jumping into every thread that mentioned Willow/Tara and beating back the hoards of W/T bashers, (We were kept pretty busy those days!!) when a fellow defender of the faith saw that I was pure of heart and gave me the key(phrase) to the kitten refuge.
This was a long time ago but I think it was Warduke.

[Dr.G]

Oh I never tire of telling this for the umpteenth time. *Ahem* This is long and not very to the point, but I like to ramble.

I started watching BtVS by accident. I liked it and I subscribed to the Buffy newsletter. Living in Holland we were a little (a lot now) behind on the eps and after TYG had aired I read the summary of NMR about Willow confessing her feelings for Tara to Buffy. That peaked my interest.

I vaguely remember not liking Tara when I saw Hush (*still kicking myself over that one*) but I started to feel for her in TIIT when Willow put her foot in her mouth and hurt Tara's feelings.
Until this time I had missed the chemistry between them. Bugger me. I decided to watch WAY for signs of err..their developing relationship. Uhm well, "I am you know...yours" and the Flaming O Spell left little to the imagination. I fell of my chair literally and I fell completely in love with them. I read the fanfic (yay EF!) and then I got wind of Tara's secret being revealed in Family.

So I went in search of spoilers on Family a day after I knew it had aired in the US, I had to know Tara's secret. I ended up in the Family discussion thread on this board. I had never been to a discussion forum. I had no idea what it was. I looked around. I made my first dorky post in that thread (the first of many). Roxton welcomed me after a few posts and I decided to introduce myself (which can be found in the Nether Realms now). I bravely came out to the board. I told the world I love....ABBA.
Luckily for me so does our founder and moderator Xita.

Seriously, I got very sweet responses by April and Shazza here. I started talking to them, I decided to join chat, and now I am a slut and a complete spoiler ho, but other than that I am fine.

I love this board, I love being a Kitten, I love the people I have met here, and I love Willow and Tara. I would never want to be anywhere else, there is no better place to be.

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Amber Benson has really nice hair and I want her shampoo.

[Wolfix]

I think I answered this in Sassy Eggs.. oh well..

I got into Buffy coz my pal Ai Ling told me that Willow was gunna turn lesbian. So of course there I was, waiting for Oz to leave and Tara to rock onto the scene...

And then I got all excited and obsessed overthem, coz AMBER BENSON IS A HOTTIE! (well, that's the truth, people!)
Then I was surfing the Amber web, and found a link to here. I hadn't been on a PB b4, so I was kinda reluctant, but then thought I should have something to drag me away from my school work... so here I am, ladies and gentlemen!

Out of the ash
I rise with my red hair
And I eat men like air.

from Lady Lazarus by Sylvia Plath

ok, i have red hair, and i'm not big on men... but that doesn't mean i'm a feminist... i just like sylvia plath.

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Pen the Drummer loves you. You may also note that Jesus loves you.
"The rocks! The rocks! Make them stop! Make the rocks stop!"

[This message has been edited by Wolfix (edited July 17, 2001).]

[stacey_bourgeois]

I've been on the net for years and years and years. I'm a computer programmer but I seem to get a lot of time to check out the net at work--inbetween meetings and waiting for things to run, etc. Anyway, I have always been a big fan of "ER" and almost died (okay, that's not exactly true) when the Kim and Kerry romance started. I am totally in love with it and had to find a board relating to it. I found a board called "Drop the Chalupa" from the main "ER" board. Hanging out on there, I heard others mention the Willow & Tara relationship on "Buffy". Now, I had never really watched "Buffy"--in fact, my little 14 year old sister watched it so I thought I wouldn't like it. Eventually I followed a link posted by one of the Chalupas and found this board. I decided to watch the show since I really thought Aly was cute and hey, lesbian relationships are always good to watch...so I started watching. And I continue to watch and check out this board for cool information, funny remarks and interesting people. That's how I came to be a kitten.

[Cici]

I found this link on Extraflamey.com.
The Story:

I saw this Board and thought "OMG what´s this??? I don´t like it here". Mmh, i don´t know why!!!!
At this time i saw only OT Threads, and so i thought "hey isn´t that a Willow/Tara board?" ....

But i came back! And suddenly i love this Board! The people here are very nice to newbies and all others.

yes i was looking for Willow and Tara Sites.

i couldn´t understand why all people here think they are kitties???

- Cici

[Willows Puppy]

I lurked at the Buffy Cross and Stake - and saw your post with a link to the Kitten Board, Bob - that's how I found it ..... I had been at the HDC for just a short while back then .....

[tommo]

Anyone else notice how xita's been covertly recruiting?

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"She looked across at Willow, whose face was filled with light. She had never felt so calm and happy, and strong..." ~ Unseen: Door To Alternity

[xita]

hehe ruth, it's the job of the moderator

[Zahir]

I was on this huge fanfic kick, searching the web for stuff about BtVS. Through ExtraFlamey (I think) I came across the Kittens Board. Read a bit, liked what was here. Eventually, I responded--and got such an extremely nice response that (applause addict that I am) here I still am today.

Besides, you folks really are a lovely, lovely bunch.

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"O let my name be in the Book of Love.
If it be there, I care not of
That other book Above...
Strike it out! Or write it in anew.
But let it be in the Book of Love!"
--Omar Kyam